Users in this career have rated it a 2.5 in terms of their own personal satisfaction with the career. This figure represents an average taken from the responses of 48 MyPlan.com users during registration.
Users were asked to rate their happiness in their current occupation as being either "Very Happy" (4), "Happy" (3), "Mixed / Neutral" (2), "Not Happy" (1), or "Miserable" (0).
Users in this Career Group
There are 2917 users in this career group. They represent 35 different countries. You can see the list of users in this career group by clicking on one of the links below. You can also join this career group simply by selecting your current status and clicking "Add Me."
I am an entomologist; I work both in the field and as a curator in a large insect collection. Every day I look forward to work; can you believe I get paid to play with bugs?! That's not to say it's easy work--couch potatoes would find the physical aspects of field biology challenging (squeezing through cave passages; chasing insects through desert and jungle terrain) and slackers will find the learning curve too steep for comfort. School--including University education--is not enough to prepare anyone for a career in wildlife biology. You will need to have a deep passion for your favored group of critters in order to learn about them (and from them) on your own time. If I were to start over again I wouldn't do anything differently. I'm self-taught for the most part but was inspired and encouraged by countless teachers and mentors through the years. Some perks include all-expenses-paid travel to exciting and out-of-the-way places (50 countries and counting!) and a "day job" far more fascinating than anyone staring at a computer monitor all day could imagine. Unfortunately, you might be seen as a bit of a weirdo in some circles--and you'll certainly never be rich. If it weren't for the free travel and total disregard of expensive corporate dress codes you might feel the sting of those extremely-low paychecks a little bit more. All the children of the world, naturally curious and drawn to the creepy-crawlies on our planet, should be encouraged to keep their sense of wonder honed, and if they find those little bugs interesting enough they might find themselves among other happy scientists in one of the most satisfying careers I can imagine.
