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For a satisfying career and happy life, try doing something that helps other people. That’s the finding of a something called the General Social Survey performed at the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center. The survey asked people how satisfied they were with their jobs and how happy they were in general, and correlated the results. On average, 47 percent of people were very satisfied with their jobs and 33 percent said they were very happy. On the job front, clergy topped the lists—87 percent of clergy surveyed said they were very satisfied with their calling and 67 percent said they were very happy. 80 percent of firefighters really like the work and 57 percent said they were very happy. The can’t get no satisfaction list was topped by roofers, only a quarter of whom said the job was satisfying. And only 14 percent of roofers said they were happy. Their knees may be even less happy than they are. Waiters, bartenders, cashiers and various kinds of retail salespeople also didn’t like work too much. For more info about the study and its results, just google “General Social Survey.”
