Top 10 Best Careers for Job Satisfaction

“Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life”.

Job Satisfaction and enjoying your career is possibly the most desirable attribute when working (besides earning great money). Finding an exciting and enjoyable career path is a very difficult thing to do.

The real question is: what careers are statistically the most enjoyable? Naturally, you’ll have to do your own research. But, we can do some prompting in this blog post – uncovering the careers with the highest rates of job satisfaction.

So, today we will discuss the most satisfying careers in the UK, and provide you with a list of jobs which may be ideal for you and your situation.

We will also be looking at the steps you should take to be successful in achieving each role (if you’re interested), along with educational/experiential requirements for each particular job.

What careers have the highest job satisfaction?

Taken from Glassdoor’s Economic Research, here are the top 10 most satisfying jobs based in the UK:

If there are any roles which have spiked your interest, below is some information regarding each career, and what you can do to become qualified:

1. Corporate Recruiter

A Corporate Recruiter – or otherwise known as a Recruitment Consultant – is an individual who is tasked with hiring talent for a company. It is their responsibility to source and screen candidates who may be suitable for certain job roles.

Day-to-day responsibilities include:

Networking/meeting with clients
Posting job advertisements
Social Media interaction to source candidates
Active & passive candidate searches
Negotiating terms of employment
Managing relocation of candidates
Candidate CV Building
Interviewing potential candidates

Required criteria:

There are no formal requirements for this role, however, you should be educated to at least GCSE-level and have adequate numeracy and literacy skills

Useful skills to have:

Previous experience in recruitment can be useful – but not required!
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
Sales and negotiation
Goal-oriented mindset
Problem-solving
Ability to meet deadlines and targets
Ambition
Confidence and self-motivation
Time management and organisation
Team working
Creativity

How to become a recruiter:

Apply directly (even if you have no experience!)
Working towards this role through an organisation
A university course – human resources, business, marketing, public relations
An apprenticeship

Useful links on how to become a recruiter:

2. HR Manager

A HR (Human Resources) Manager is responsible for planning, coordinating, and evaluating the various services, policies, and programs of an organisation’s HR department. The HR Department typically handles matters such as recruitment, payroll, employment policies and benefits.

Day-to-day responsibilities include:

Creating and implementing policies and procedures
Ensuring HR budget is allocated effectively
May be responsible for planning and implementing future HR strategies
Liaise with inter-departmental senior managers
Ensure all company policies are being adhered to
Undertake investigatory and disciplinary meetings
Recruit staff
Training and development of staff
Conduct performance reviews

Required criteria:

At least 5 years’ experience in a HR role
Typically need 4 or 5 GCSEs at Grades A-C or equivalent

Useful skills to have:

Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
Confidentiality
Problem-solving
Adaptability
Leadership
Time management and organisation
Team-working
Creativity

How to become a HR Manager

There are a variety of ways to become a HR Manager, these include the following:

A university course – in any subject, or human resources management specifically
A Master’s degree – in HR
Vocational training – e.g. a Higher National Diploma or an apprenticeship in HR
Work experience – on-the-job experience or training in a HR role
Work your way up in an organisation, starting with junior HR roles
Career change – transferrable skills and knowledge gained from a related field of work

Useful links on how to become a HR Manager:

3. Full Stack Engineer

Full Stack Engineers are senior-level computer programmers with a skillset in both front- and back-end systems coding, and project management experience – with systems administration skills. They design user interactions and develop servers and databases for functionality, ensuring cross-platform optimisation for mobile phones.

Day-to-day responsibilities include:

Participate in all aspects of agile software development including design, implementation, and deployment
Architect and provide guidance on building end-to-end systems optimised for speed and scale
Testing and debugging software
Writing clean code for both front- and back-end of the software
Design user interactions
Work with graphic designers to design new features
Testing and maintaining the responsive design of application
Keeping up with technological advances to optimise software
Considering security, maintenance, scalability, and more when developing

Required criteria:

Front-end experience with HTML, CSS and JavaScript
Back-end experience writing APIs (knowing coding languages, e.g. Python, PHP, Ruby)
1+ years experience of building large-scale software applications
Experience building web applications
Unit/Integration testing experience

Useful skills to have:

Good time management
Curiosity for learning
Problem-solving
Attention to detail
Creativity
Patience
Analytical mindset

How to become a Full Stack Engineer

There are a variety of ways to become a Full Stack Engineer, these include the following:

A university course – in any computer sciences or related subjects
A Master’s degree – in computer sciences
Boot camps & training courses
Online training courses
Self-guided courses (e.g. www.udemy.com)

Useful links on how to become a Full Stack Engineer:

4. HR Business Partner

A HR Business Partner provides advice to leadership regarding best practices to maximise employee efficiencies and direct a HR agenda which closely supports organisational goals. Rather than working with the HR department, a HR Business Partner works directly with senior leadership.

Day-to-day responsibilities include:

Developing a HR agenda
Develop HR strategies, policies, and practices
Improving and monitoring employee productivity
Structuring benefit and compensation packages
Manage staff wellness initiatives
Improve staff and employer relations
Managing and allocating HR funds
Overseeing recruitment
Engaging with heads of departments

Required criteria:

A degree in business or HRM (Not always required)
At senior level, at least 10+ years of experience is required

Useful skills to have:

Communication
Stakeholder Management
People Management
Knowledge of the business
Identify and develop leaders
Maintain confidentiality
Time management
Leadership
Teamwork
Organisation

How to become a HR Business Partner

There are a variety of ways to become a Full Stack Engineer, these include the following:

A university course – in business or HRM
A Master’s degree – in business or HRM
Experience working from a junior-level within the company
Experience working in any HR background

Useful links on how to become a HR Business Partner:

5. UX Designer

A UX Designer is a technical role that is responsible for enhancing customer satisfaction by improving the usability, accessibility, and pleasure associated with a program in a way that is attractive and convenient for users.

Day-to-day responsibilities include:

Consulting with clients to understand their goals
Explaining user research results to internal and external stakeholders
Developing personas and usage scenarios
Conducting usability testing
Creating wireframes, storyboards, sitemaps and screen flows
Creating prototypes
Analysing user feedback and activity
Assisting with content development
Conducting competitor and customer analysis

Required criteria:

Experience with HTML, CSS and comparable languages
3-5 years of demonstrated experience with UX Design

Useful skills to have:

Good time management
Curiosity for learning
Problem-solving
Attention to detail
Creativity
Patience
Analytical mindset

How to become a UX Designer

There are a variety of ways to become a UX Designer, these include the following:

A university course – in any computer sciences or related subjects
A Master’s degree – in computer sciences
Boot camps & training courses
Online training programmes
Self-guided courses (e.g. www.udemy.com)

Useful links on how to become a Full Stack Engineer:

6. Front End Engineer

A Front End Engineer is responsible for planning, building and implementing the user interface systems of websites, software programs, and web-based applications. The primary goal of a Front End engineer is to provide a satisfactory user experience, where there are no issues, errors, or downtime.

Day-to-day responsibilities include:

Use markup languages like HTML and CSS to create user-friendly web pages
Maintain and improve a website
Optimise applications for maximum speed
Design mobile-based features
Collaborate with back-end developers and web designers
Create prototypes
Help back-end developers with coding and troubleshooting
Ensure high quality graphic standards and brand consistency
Remain up-to-date on emerging technologies

Required criteria:

Experience with HTML, CSS, JavaScript and comparable languages
Work experience as a Front End Engineer

Useful skills to have:

Good time management
Curiosity for learning
Problem-solving
Attention to detail
Creativity
Patience
Analytical mindset

How to become a Front End Engineer

There are a variety of ways to become a Front End Engineer, these include the following:

A university course – in any computer sciences or related subjects
A Master’s degree – in computer sciences
Boot camps & training courses
Online training programmes
Self-guided courses (e.g. www.udemy.com)

Useful links on how to become a Full Stack Engineer:

7. Data Scientist

A Data Scientist utilises analytical, statistical, and programming skills to collect, analyse, and interpret large data sets. This information is then used to develop data-driven solutions to difficult business challenges.

Day-to-day responsibilities include:

Build credible statistical models from data
Source, access, manipulate, and engineer data process with data that typically have characteristics of volume, velocity and variety
Explore and visualise data to present the ‘story’ of data in a meaningful way
Use an evolving rate of data analysis tools and techniques
Work with policy and operations to understanding where data science adds value
Support strategic and operational decision making
Adhering to an ethics framework

Required criteria:

Degree in computer science, mathematics, or a science-based subject (Not always required with thorough experience)
Knowledge of programming languages (e.g. R, Python, SQL, C, Java)

Useful skills to have:

Good time management
Curiosity for learning
Problem-solving and analytical
Attention to detail
Patience
Listening
Ambition and drive

How to become a Data Scientist

There are a variety of ways to become a Data Scientist, these include the following:

A university course – in any computer science, mathematics or a science-based subject
A Master’s degree – in computer sciences
A graduate training scheme
Apprenticeships schemes
Vocational training in an organisation

Useful links on how to become a Data Scientist:

8. Customer Success Manager

A Customer Success Manager seeks to develop a positive customer experience through fostering a relationship and supporting brand loyalty. They work alongside senior management to promote the retention of customers to build a positive brand image.

Day-to-day responsibilities include:

Bring onboard new customers for the business
Advocate for the company to bring on new customers
Keep track of customer product expiration dates and follow up on the renewals
Encourage up-selling and cross-selling
Build relationships between customers and the support team
Be the voice of the customer
Work directly with customers
Data analysis of customer reviews and experiences
Assist customer as needed with setting up and navigating programs

Required criteria:

3-5 years’ experience in customer service

Useful skills to have:

Customer-first mindset
Communication
Relationship management
Industry knowledge
Problem solving
Managing expectations
Time management
Organisation
Empathy
Mentoring
Listening
Technical
Data analysis

How to become a Customer Success Manager

There are a variety of ways to become a Customer Success Manager, these include the following:

A university course – e.g. business, computer science, engineering, IT
A Master’s degree – in any relevant subject
A graduate training scheme
Apprenticeships schemes
Vocational training in an organisation

Useful links on how to become a Data Scientist:

9. Marketing Manager

A Marketing Manager develops strategic marketing plans for a company and then oversees the implementation and execution of the various efforts associated with the marketing plan. They typically promote a brand or a service, while managing a team to maximise the promotional efforts.

Day-to-day responsibilities include:

Build marketing programs to support specific marketing objectives
Market through various channels and segment databases
Develop business cases for marketing programs in achieving their stated objectives
Evaluate the impact of marketing programs in achieving their objectives
Partner with creative teams and other internal stakeholders
Propose and manage marketing research projects
Work with other marketing teams
Lead the execution of marketing programs from start to finish

Required criteria:

5 GCSEs at grades A*-C or equivalent, including English and Maths
4+ years of experience in marketing

Useful skills to have:

Selling products and services
Communication
Attention to detail
Leadership
Mathematics
Customer Service
Business Management
Technical abilities

How to become a Marketing Manager

There are a variety of ways to become a Marketing Manager, these include the following:

A university course – marketing, business management, digital marketing, advertising
Applying directly with relevant experience
Apprenticeships schemes
Working in an organisation at a junior level before working your way up

Useful links on how to become a Marketing Manager:

10. Mobile Engineer

A Mobile Engineer designs, develops, and implements software programs for smartphones and other mobile devices. Using data-driven insights, mobile engineers guide development of programs and apps that fill a user’s need.

Day-to-day responsibilities include:

Discuss the client’s requirements and the proposed solution with colleagues
Develop application programming interfaces (APIs) to support mobile functionality
Keep up to date with terminology, concepts and best practices for coding mobile apps
Use and adapt existing web applications for mobile apps
Work closely with colleagues to innovate app functionality and design

Required criteria:

Knowledge of programming languages (e.g. C#, Java, Objective-C)
Experience working as a mobile engineer

Useful skills to have:

Good time management
Curiosity for learning
Problem-solving and analytical
Organisational
Communication
Attention to detail
Patience
Listening
Ambition and drive

How to become a Mobile Engineer

There are a variety of ways to become a Mobile Engineer, these include the following:

A university course – in any computer science, mathematics or a science-based subject
A Master’s degree – in computer sciences
A graduate training scheme
Apprenticeships schemes
Online training and courses (www.udemy.com)

Useful links on how to become a Mobile Engineer:

What are the most satisfying industries in the UK?

Even if none of the jobs mentioned above don’t grasp your attention, the following are the highest rated industries for job satisfaction in the UK (Glassdoor Economic Research):

With these being the most satisfying industry, it might be worth doing some of your own research into some of the jobs in these sectors!

Regardless, the main point of today’s blog post is to help you understand the importance of having a job that you enjoy – and show you the potential options of enjoyable career options.

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By Leon Simpson – Company Director at Rekkruut

Top 10 Best Careers for Job Satisfaction

What careers have the highest job satisfaction?

1. Corporate Recruiter

2. HR Manager

3. Full Stack Engineer

4. HR Business Partner

5. UX Designer

6. Front End Engineer

7. Data Scientist

8. Customer Success Manager

9. Marketing Manager

10. Mobile Engineer

What are the most satisfying industries in the UK?

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