Account managers 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, account managers rate their career happiness 2.7 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 11% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy account managers 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Bank manager | 2.8 | $132k |
| Logistician | 2.7 | $77k |
| Compensation and benefits manager | 2.7 | $128k |
| Recruiter | 2.7 | $62k |
| Restaurant manager | 2.7 | $59k |
| Account manager | 2.7 | $47k |
| Securities and commodities broker | 2.7 | $63k |
| Financial analyst | 2.7 | $92k |
| Compliance manager | 2.7 | $125k |
| Advertising sales agent | 2.7 | $52k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are account managers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do account managers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as account managers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are account manager’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are account managers making the best use of their abilities?
Are account managers happy with their salary?
Account managers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.0/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most account managers having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked account managers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
2735 account managers
12% of account managers rated their compensation 5 stars
25% of account managers rated their compensation 4 stars
30% of account managers rated their compensation 3 stars
21% of account managers rated their compensation 2 stars
12% of account managers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do account managers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, account managers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.3/5. The majority of account managers struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked account managers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.3 out of 5 stars
2734 account managers
5% of account managers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
10% of account managers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
22% of account managers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
29% of account managers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
33% of account managers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as account managers?
Account managers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.7/5. The majority of account managers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked account managers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
2990 account managers
26% of account managers rated their career fit 5 stars
38% of account managers rated their career fit 4 stars
23% of account managers rated their career fit 3 stars
9% of account managers rated their career fit 2 stars
4% of account managers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is an account manager’s work environment?
As a whole, account managers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.4/5. A solid majority of account managers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as an account manager.
We asked account managers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
2979 account managers
17% of account managers rated their work environment 5 stars
34% of account managers rated their work environment 4 stars
27% of account managers rated their work environment 3 stars
15% of account managers rated their work environment 2 stars
7% of account managers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are account managers making the best use of their abilities?
Former account managers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.7/5. Account managers tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.
We asked account managers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.7 out of 5 stars
2982 account managers
8% of account managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
19% of account managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
27% of account managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
30% of account managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
16% of account managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars