How satisfied are you?

Take our quick quiz to guage how satisfied you are at work. Select the answer that comes nearest to your ideal response – don’t think about it too long, just follow your ‘gut’ feeling. When you've finished, click the Get my score! button to see what your 'job happiness' quotient is...

Quiz written by Psychologist Donna Dawson

How do you feel on Sunday night or Monday morning?

Looking forward to getting back to work – you enjoy your job, and the people you work with.
Resigned – you need to work to earn money, so it might as well be this job as any other.
Dreading it – you hate your job, and it’s hard getting up for it on any morning.

When the boss’s back is turned, you:

Get on with what you are doing; you like working on your own initiative and being trusted.
Daydream about a better job, or gossip about your boss to workmates.
Chat to your friends, surf the internet take a longer break – anything to delay what you have to do.

 If you really put your mind to it, the opportunities in your workplace to get on, improve your skills and earn more money, are:

Very much there – you just have to go for it!
Not clear; you fear there may be a ‘ceiling’ on how far you can go.
Non-existent – you feel trapped!

When you get to work, you find that:

Your spirits perk up, and you look forward to new challenges as they arise.
You go into neutral ‘work mode’ – it’s better not to think about it too much.
Your spirits drop - it’s the same old boring, depressing routine.

When you’ve had a “bad day” at work, you:

Go home and relax - everyone has “bad” days, and tomorrow will be better.
Go out and treat yourself, whether it’s a drink with mates or a shopping spree.
Take it out on your family, partner, flatmate or friends, even though you don’t mean to.

The main reason that you don’t leave your present job is:

You’re happy there, and well-suited to it.
You don’t know what to do, or where to go for help.
You don’t have the skills or qualifications to find a better job.

If you were thinking of changing your job would you?:

Start doing your CV.
Look through the job vacancies every day, and hope.
Not know where to go, but ask advice of friends and family.

When thinking of how your skills match your job, you would say that:

You can bring most if not all of your skills and talents to the job that you do.
Many of the skills that you have are either under-utilised, or not used.
You’ve been trained to do that particular job, and that’s about it.

As far as your workmates are concerned, you:

Enjoy being with them, as you feel that you are among equals who share the same goals.
Get along with some of them, but feel that it’s an “us” and “them” situation.
Are all in the same boat, moaning about how you all hate the job.

When you are not at work, you find that:

You are able to put work issues aside and enjoy time spent with family and friends.
You are constantly moaning to friends about your job, and in danger of becoming a “job bore”.
You feel depressed and lethargic and you may be drinking, eating or smoking too much.

 

You scored

What your score says about you

70% or more : Satisfied customer

You are happy in your present job, and believe that your skills and talents are well matched to your job tasks. You see opportunities at your workplace and scope for developing your skills (and your pay-packet) further. You have a good relationship with your boss, and feel that you can go to him/her with any problems or questions. In fact, he/she might be helping you to map out the future that you want. Any talents not used on the job, you put to good use in a creative hobby. You like your job, but you haven’t allowed it to take over your life, and you can still find enough ‘quality’ time to spend with family, partner and friends.

Advice: It will pay for you to stay committed and enthusiastic as long as your job, your boss, and the company policy stay the same. If you need to improve your skills to keep moving on in your job, visit www.learndirect-advice.co.uk/courses

40% - 60% : Restless ranger

The best that can be said is that you “put up with” your job. You don’t love it, and you don’t hate it, either – it’s just a job that brings in enough money to pay the mortgage. The thought that maybe you could have a job that you actually enjoy, seems like an unobtainable dream; you either see your lack of skills, or your age, or not knowing precisely what you want to do, as barriers. When you allow yourself to think about it, you admit that you could be doing more with your abilities and talents, and that you would then possibly look forward to work everyday.

Advice: You’re stuck in a rut, and you deserve better! Force yourself to take some action: think about what you like about your current job, or what interests you, you could visit www.learndirect-advice.co.uk/skills to assess your skills and interests and match them to a job.

30% or less : Desperate Dan

You really need to make a move - no one should be doing a job they hate, just to earn money! In fact, your ‘dead-end’ job is poisoning everything else in your life, including your mental and physical health, your relationships, and your ability to enjoy life. You know that you can do better, but you just don’t know what your next move is.

Advice: If it’s lack of skills or qualifications that are holding you back, then why not contact learndirect Careers Advice to find out what your options are. It my be time to take the bull by the horns and take that IT course that you’ve always promised yourself, or to take a hobby at which you excel and develop it into a career possibility. Whatever you want to do, it is not too late! Call learndirect Careers Advice on 0800 100 900 and get the careers advice you need.