Nuclear medicine technologists are one of the least happy careers in the United States.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, nuclear medicine technologists rate their career happiness 2.7 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 10% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy nuclear medicine technologists are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Medical secretary | 2.8 | $27k |
| Neurodiagnostic technologist | 2.8 | $43k |
| Clinical nurse specialist | 2.8 | $73k |
| Medical records technician | 2.7 | $40k |
| Registered nurse | 2.7 | $66k |
| Nuclear medicine technologist | 2.7 | $78k |
| Pharmacist | 2.7 | $128k |
| Histotechnologist | 2.6 | $61k |
| Cytogenetic technologist | 2.6 | $61k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are nuclear medicine technologists happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do nuclear medicine technologists find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as nuclear medicine technologists?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are nuclear medicine technologist’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are nuclear medicine technologists making the best use of their abilities?
Are nuclear medicine technologists happy with their salary?
Nuclear medicine technologists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.4/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most nuclear medicine technologists having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked nuclear medicine technologists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
21 nuclear medicine technologists
14% of nuclear medicine technologists rated their compensation 5 stars
33% of nuclear medicine technologists rated their compensation 4 stars
38% of nuclear medicine technologists rated their compensation 3 stars
10% of nuclear medicine technologists rated their compensation 2 stars
5% of nuclear medicine technologists rated their compensation 1 stars
Do nuclear medicine technologists find their jobs meaningful?
On average, nuclear medicine technologists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.6/5. While most nuclear medicine technologists aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.
We asked nuclear medicine technologists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.6 out of 5 stars
22 nuclear medicine technologists
9% of nuclear medicine technologists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
14% of nuclear medicine technologists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
32% of nuclear medicine technologists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
18% of nuclear medicine technologists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
27% of nuclear medicine technologists rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as nuclear medicine technologists?
Nuclear medicine technologists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.5/5. Few nuclear medicine technologists seem to find that their personalities work mesh well with their career.
We asked nuclear medicine technologists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
22 nuclear medicine technologists
18% of nuclear medicine technologists rated their career fit 5 stars
32% of nuclear medicine technologists rated their career fit 4 stars
27% of nuclear medicine technologists rated their career fit 3 stars
23% of nuclear medicine technologists rated their career fit 2 stars
How enjoyable is a nuclear medicine technologist’s work environment?
As a whole, nuclear medicine technologists rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.0/5. Some nuclear medicine technologists are happy with their work environment, but it does not seem to be a meaningful contributer to career satisfaction for most.
We asked nuclear medicine technologists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
22 nuclear medicine technologists
9% of nuclear medicine technologists rated their work environment 5 stars
27% of nuclear medicine technologists rated their work environment 4 stars
23% of nuclear medicine technologists rated their work environment 3 stars
41% of nuclear medicine technologists rated their work environment 2 stars
Are nuclear medicine technologists making the best use of their abilities?
Former nuclear medicine technologists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.0/5. Nuclear medicine technologists tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.
We asked nuclear medicine technologists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
22 nuclear medicine technologists
9% of nuclear medicine technologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
14% of nuclear medicine technologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
50% of nuclear medicine technologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
27% of nuclear medicine technologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars