Published: 5th August 2021.
Written by Madelle Borschman
Some people aspire to careers where they can earn a six figure salary. Some dream of discovering something new, creating breakthroughs in their field or becoming a household name. For those who prioritise a feeling of fulfilment in their career, many different career paths exist. While salaries and qualifications needed may vary, what these careers do have in common is that they all score highly in terms of reported job satisfaction.
Job satisfaction comprises many different aspects, including level of autonomy, pay, sense of belonging or accomplishment and personal interest. Below are 5 roles with high job satisfaction.
Nutritionist
A nutritionist advises people from all walks of life on their diet and personal wellbeing. Your duties might include preparing personalised meal plans for clients, monitoring their progress and advising them on all things food, nutrition and personal wellness. As a nutritionist, you can also expect to earn a decent salary - between $65k and $75k on average across Australia.
But more than that, what makes this role so rewarding is building relationships with clients and celebrating their successes. The advice and support you offer can empower and encourage someone to improve their health - decreasing their risks of heart, kidney, and liver diseases and positively influencing their quality of life. And as you will be teaching them the tools to continue living and eating well, your influence and advice is evergreen and forever beneficial to their lives.
You can start a career in nutrition with a qualification like the Certificate IV in Allied Health Assistance (Nutrition and Dietetics) or Certificate IV in Weight Management.
Systems Analyst
If you are computer savvy and love learning about new technologies then a Systems Analyst role might be a good fit for you.
The Systems Analyst is a multifaceted role, involving creating new IT systems, maintaining and troubleshooting existing ones and collaborating with many different stakeholders on use, implementation and improvements. It often comes with a highly competitive salary - estimates between $100k and $120k across the country.
A systems analyst will often find themselves working on multiple projects of varying natures and engaging with people from many different departments within an organisation. Something else that makes the role satisfying is seeing the improvements to the user experience or back-end functionality you have put in place, and the positive feedback and appreciation from colleagues.
A qualification like the Certificate IV in Information Technology (Systems Administration Support) or Advanced Diploma of Information Technology can set you on the path to becoming a systems analyst.
Counsellor
Similar to the Nutritionist, a Counselling role would see you improving people’s lives for the better. Where the nutritionist focuses on physical wellbeing relating to diet and exercise, a counsellor primarily focuses on clients’ mental and emotional wellbeing, although the two certainly overlap.
As a counsellor, you may see clients one-on-one or facilitate group sessions to help people deal with trauma, grief, stress, relationship concerns, addictions and conflict resolution - the challenges are unique to every individual a counsellor would meet. Counsellors also often enjoy flexible working arrangements and a decent salary: estimates range between $80k and $90k nationwide.
Counsellors report that their roles are highly challenging but that helping others through adversity is highly fulfilling, and often come with a close knit support group of other professionals in the industry. Many counsellors also specialise in niche areas like counselling youth, relationship counselling, trauma counselling and more, giving them an expert insight into these issues and allowing them to provide those groups with assistance to empower themselves and improve their situations.
To begin a role in Counselling, a Diploma of Counselling is a great place to start.
Copywriter
What is a copywriter? Essentially, anything consisting of words that a business uses is copy - brochures, ‘about us’ sections on websites, email sales campaigns, social media posts, slogans, etc. Large businesses often employ in-house copywriters, while smaller businesses might subcontract out to copywriting agencies or individual freelancers.
As a copywriter, your role would be to deeply understand not just the business you are working for, but the customer base and what’s known as SEO - search engine optimisation. After all - most of your copy is likely to be digital, and if it doesn’t appear in searches, how will the customers ever see it?
Copywriters (especially freelancers) have a high degree of autonomy. Many work remotely and set their own hours and pay rates. For those in a marketing agency, their work and customers always vary - so would suit those who love novelty and challenge in their work and are good at wordsmithing.
To get started in Copywriting, it’s best if you have a basic understanding of marketing and communication - after all, the copy you write should help a business sell their products or promote their services. A great jumping-off point would be the Certificate IV in Marketing and Communication to give you key insights into analysing consumer behaviours and creating content to suit the needs of your clients.
Logistics Coordinator
Have you ever wondered how big companies coordinate all their stock deliveries, warehousing, inventories and more? This is the role the Logistics Coordinator performs - which often means that no two days are the same. Logistics Coordinators report a feeling of satisfaction at being able to see a process through end-to-end, and liken the job to a game of Tetris or building a puzzle: knowing that you have made all the little pieces fit together is highly rewarding.
Logistics is also a booming industry, with high job growth prospects projected over the next few years. And while as a Logistics Coordinator you could be looking at a comfortable salary of around $65k per year - become a Logistics Manager and you could easily see that figure double. A great place to start would be the Certificate IV in Logistics or the Diploma of Logistics.
These courses will teach you not only the ins and outs of managing stock, but also introduce you to managing staff, maintaining a safe and compliant workplace and even international distribution logistics.
Whichever job you choose, make sure you do your research into not just projected salary outcomes but also job stability and security. A great place to look is the Government’s JobOutlook site.