Unless we win the Lottery or inherit a fortune, we all need to work to be able to pay the bills. Yet work should be about more than a cold transactional process; more than just performing tasks for money. The right job can be a highly rewarding experience and give you the opportunity to develop and test your skills.
While each and every one of us will find motivation in different types of career and challenge, there are some jobs that stand above all others with an inherent ability to reward.
The following are the top five jobs that deliver satisfaction in spades:
Teacher
Yes, children can sometimes be a ‘challenge’ but there is great pleasure to be had in helping the next generation to discover the wonders of the world for the first time. Whether it’s helping little ones to read and write at primary level or passing on your passion for a specialist subject to older children in secondary school jobs, teaching contains a great number of different opportunities.
Nurse
The most rewarding jobs often involve helping others. The chance to help those who are unwell to get better is what makes nursing a popular vocation. Other medical professions are rewarding too but it is nursing that offers the most direct day-to-day interaction with patients in order to help improve all aspects of their well-being.
Vet
Helping people is rewarding – but so too is helping animals. Veterinary surgery is a profession that allows highly skilled people to make a real difference to the health and wellbeing of all manner of animals. Curing a cute pet is guaranteed to be rewarding – and it’s guaranteed to make a fair few people happy too.
Gardener
Some people yearn to make the most of the great outdoors and, for them, there’s great reward to be found in becoming a gardener. As horticulturalist Susie Atterbury told the Guardian: “Gardening is so freeing – being outdoors and working with nature and the changing seasons.” The most skilled gardeners are able to work on complex and creative projects – delivering colour and natural beauty that brightens up the lives of others.
Clergy
In 2014, a Government study aimed to determine the positions which carry the greatest level of job satisfaction. The study aimed to help people to determine their preferred career path, letting them consider more than the amount of money they will earn. Interestingly, it found that members of the clergy had the most satisfying lives of anyone, with farmers also featuring high on the list. The clergy is a way for those with a passionate religious belief to make a difference. Like the other jobs on our list, there’s also a strong sense of helping others – with lots of pastoral work at the heart of the role.
Helping children, animals, the sick or working in an area that fuels your particular passion will all deliver the most rewarding work experience. Sign up for this type of job and you’ll be less likely to struggle to drag yourself out of bed to go to work in the morning.