Postal service clerks 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, postal service clerks rate their career happiness 2.3 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 2% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy postal service clerks 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Host and hostess | 2.5 | $22k |
| Food server | 2.4 | $27k |
| Postal service worker | 2.4 | $39k |
| Garbage collector | 2.4 | $38k |
| Vehicle cleaner | 2.4 | $26k |
| Postal service clerk | 2.3 | $44k |
| Customer service representative | 2.3 | $29k |
| Retail salesperson | 2.3 | $23k |
| Housekeeping cleaner | 2.3 | $25k |
| Dyeing machine operator | 2.2 | $29k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are postal service clerks happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do postal service clerks find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as postal service clerks?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are postal service clerk’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are postal service clerks making the best use of their abilities?
Are postal service clerks happy with their salary?
Postal service clerks rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.9/5. Postal service clerks tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked postal service clerks how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
213 postal service clerks
10% of postal service clerks rated their compensation 5 stars
23% of postal service clerks rated their compensation 4 stars
28% of postal service clerks rated their compensation 3 stars
22% of postal service clerks rated their compensation 2 stars
17% of postal service clerks rated their compensation 1 stars
Do postal service clerks find their jobs meaningful?
On average, postal service clerks rate the meaningfulness of their work a 1.9/5. The majority of postal service clerks struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked postal service clerks how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
1.9 out of 5 stars
214 postal service clerks
3% of postal service clerks rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
7% of postal service clerks rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
16% of postal service clerks rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
23% of postal service clerks rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
51% of postal service clerks rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as postal service clerks?
Postal service clerks rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.2/5. The majority of postal service clerks don’t see personality fit as a hinderence in their career.
We asked postal service clerks how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
230 postal service clerks
20% of postal service clerks rated their career fit 5 stars
25% of postal service clerks rated their career fit 4 stars
24% of postal service clerks rated their career fit 3 stars
19% of postal service clerks rated their career fit 2 stars
12% of postal service clerks rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a postal service clerk’s work environment?
As a whole, postal service clerks rated their enjoyment of their work environment 2.8/5. Some postal service clerks are happy with their work environment, but it does not seem to be a meaningful contributer to career satisfaction for most.
We asked postal service clerks how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
2.8 out of 5 stars
232 postal service clerks
14% of postal service clerks rated their work environment 5 stars
22% of postal service clerks rated their work environment 4 stars
22% of postal service clerks rated their work environment 3 stars
21% of postal service clerks rated their work environment 2 stars
22% of postal service clerks rated their work environment 1 stars
Are postal service clerks making the best use of their abilities?
Former postal service clerks on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.1/5. Most feel that their skills are being underutilized in the career, probably leading to more general dissatisfaction with being a postal service clerk.
We asked postal service clerks how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.1 out of 5 stars
235 postal service clerks
5% of postal service clerks rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
9% of postal service clerks rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
15% of postal service clerks rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
29% of postal service clerks rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
42% of postal service clerks rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars