SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA JOB MARKET : PART TWO: MAKING THE BREAK : Are You Satisfied With Your Job?

You might think you already know how well you like your work or that it’s time to change jobs. But you may not be objective or you m ay not be asking all the right questions. Here’s a quiz designed to help put you on the right track. The test may also stimulate you to think about y our job in new ways.

Self Test

After you mark your answers, please turn to page 22 for your score and to analyze the results

1. How clearly defined are your job responsibilities? a. I know exactly what’s expected of me. b. I’m fairly clear about what’s expected of me. c. I feel pretty fuzzy about what’s expected of me. 2. Does your supervisor allow you to be involved in making decisions? a. As much as I could reasonably expect. b. Sometimes, but it could be more. c. Once in a blue moon. 3. Is there good communication between you and your supervisor? a. We communicate well most of the time. b. Sometimes we communicate reasonably well. c. We rarely communicate well. 4. Does your supervisor praise you when you perform well? a. I almost always hear about it when I do a good job. b. My supervisor periodically lets me know I’m doing a good job. c. I rarely hear any positive feedback about my performance. 5. Are you confident that the better you perform, the more money you’ll make? a. Money is directly related to performance at our company. b. Money has some relationship to performance at our company. c. I don’t think there’s much relationship between money and performance. 6. Are you confident that the better you perform, the more likely it is that you’ll be promoted? a. If I continue to improve, my chances of promotion are greater. b. If I continue to improve, I increase my promotional chances somewhat. c. I don’t think promotions have much to do with performance here. 7. Are people fairly compensated for their work at your company? a. People are basically paid what they deserve. b. There’s some relationship between pay and performance. c. I don’t think pay and performance are related at all around here. 8. How much freedom do you have to decide how to do your work? a. I can do my job the way I see fit. b. I have some freedom to do certain things my way. c. I’m basically told how to do my work and have little freedom to make decisions. 9. How important do you feel your work is to your company? a. My work contributes significantly to the company. b. My work contributes somewhat. c. I don’t think my work is really very important. 10. When given an assignment, how much of the total assignment are you involved with? a. Basically, I do the whole thing from start to finish. b. I’m involved with a major portion of it. c. I usually get to do only a small part of it. 11. How much regular feedback do you receive about your work? a. I get regular feedback. b. I get feedback periodically. c. Once in awhile I get some feedback, but not very often. 12. Does your job require the use of several different skills? a. Most of the time, yes. b. I use several skills in my job, but not always. c. Once in a great while I use multiple skills, but it’s the exception. 13. How challenging is your job? a. It’s very challenging. b. My job is challenging sometimes, but could be more. c. My job could be done by someone with less skill than I have. 14. Do you enjoy working with the people around you? a. Yes, most of the time. b. We have our moments, but basically they’re just OK. c. Not really; I’d prefer a different set of co-workers. 15. How do you feel about the working conditions at your company (the environment, cleanliness, lighting, ventilation, furniture, etc.)? a. The environment is very acceptable; I like it. b. It could use some improvement in some areas. c. The whole place could be improved dramatically. 16. At the end of the day, how do you feel? a. Tired, but I think I’ve contributed or accomplished something. b. I often wonder what I actually accomplished. c. I often think that what I do doesn’t really make a difference. 17. How does a typical day seem to progress for you? a. At quitting time, I often wonder where the time went. b. I find myself periodically watching the clock. c. I always know how much more time is left before quitting time. 18. Do you fantasize about doing some other type of work, or even another job at the same company? a. Not really, I like what I’m doing and I don’t have time to fantasize. b. Sometimes, when I’m bored. c. I spend a good portion of each day or week thinking about other jobs. 19. What was the primary reason you selected this job? a. It seemed like the best match between my skills, my interests and the job requirements. b. It had some drawbacks, but was the best I could come up with under the circumstances. c. I needed the money. 20. How often do you think about retirement? a. I don’t think about it much; I’ll probably work as long as I can. b. I think about it sometimes, but I’m not anxious about it. c. A great deal of the time; I’m looking forward to it. 21. How often do you come home from work with headaches or back pain? a. Hardly ever. b. Sometimes, when things are really hectic or crazy at work. c. Quite regularly these days. 22. After a couple of days off, how do you feel when you’re preparing to go back to work? a. Good, looking forward to the week. b. Some hesitancy, but generally OK. c. I basically avoid the thought, or am just not very excited about it. 23. How would you rate your own level of job satisfaction? a. I feel very good about my job and the work I do. b. I have my ups and downs, but generally I feel pretty good about work. c. Work is not really my main source of satisfaction. 24. How often do you come home from work feeling irritable? a. I usually come home in a good mood. b. Sometimes I come home irritated, but not too often. c. Fairly often. 25. How often are you absent from work other than vacations? a. I’m rarely absent. b. A moderate amount, within reason. c. Probably more than I should be or more than most workers. 26. Are you ever bored with your work? a. I’m rarely bored. b. I get bored sometimes, but basically the work is OK. c. I seem to get bored pretty often these days. 27. How important is work in your life? a. I look forward to work as much as anything else in my life. b. Work is important, but no more than any other part of my life. c. Work is probably the least important part of my life now. 28. How do you feel about working more than 40 hours a week? a. It’s just part of the job; I don’t really mind. b. I’d rather not, but I have no choice. c. As long as I get paid for it, I’ll do it. 29. Which is most important to you? (Answer honestly!) a. My career. b. My family. c. My free time and leisure pursuits. 30. What will you do if you don’t like the score you get on this quiz? a. Rationalize the result and say the quiz isn’t valid for me. b. Consider evaluating my work and my life in a little more depth. c. Throw it away.

Copyright 1989, Richard J. Mirabile, Ph.D. Not to be reproduced without permission.

About the Author

This test was prepared for the Times by Richard J. Mirabile principal of Behavioral Systems Management Group, a human resources management firm in El Granada, Calif.

Scoring the Quiz

Use the following scale to score your answers to the quiz on pages 18 and 19. Add up the total points and refer to the interpretation section to see what your results mean.

1. a=5 b=3 c=1 16. a=5 b=3 c=1 2. a=5 b=3 c=1 17. a=5 b=3 c=1 3. a=5 b=3 c=1 18. a=5 b=3 c=1 4. a=5 b=3 c=1 19. a=5 b=3 c=1 5. a=5 b=3 c=1 20. a=5 b=3 c=1 6. a=5 b=3 c=1 21. a=5 b=3 c=1 7. a=5 b=3 c=1 22. a=5 b=3 c=1 8. a=5 b=3 c=1 23. a=5 b=3 c=1 9. a=5 b=3 c=1 24. a=5 b=3 c=1 10. a=5 b=3 c=1 25. a=5 b=3 c=1 11. a=5 b=3 c=1 26. a=5 b=3 c=1 12. a=5 b=3 c=1 27. a=5 b=3 c=1 13. a=5 b=3 c=1 28. a=5 b=3 c=1 14. a=5 b=3 c=1 29. a=5 b=3 c=3 15. a=5 b=3 c=1 30. a=3 b=3 c=3

Total number of points:

INTERPRETING YOUR SCORE

The range of possible points on this quiz is from 30 to 150. To give yourself a rough idea of what your score means, use the following breakdown:

30-50 points: High job dissatisfaction

A score in this range probably suggests that you are not a good match for your work. Perhaps a different job within the same company might be a better fit, or you may need to consider leaving your company altogether. In either case, you probably need to make a move.

51-80 points: Low job satisfaction

A score in this range could mean dissatisfaction with: 1) the work you’re doing; 2) relationships with your supervisor or colleagues, or 3) the demands your job places on you versus other activities. You probably need to explore your particular situation more in depth so you can make some informed decisions.

81-110: Average job satisfaction

A score in this range could mean a lot of things. It could mean that everything about your job, while not perfect, is pretty acceptable. It could also mean that there’s a pretty good balance between your work, the supervision and pay you receive, and the limitations and demands the job puts on you. It could also mean that you simply value outside activities so much that work is more of an economic necessity rather than a professional pursuit.

Consider clarifying and ranking your values to see what parts of your life are most important. Then see how this compares to your current job situation. You may in fact be in precisely the right spot given your particular interests and needs.

111-140: High job satisfaction

A score in this range probably means that there is a good fit between you, your values, skills, needs and your job. Although it’s not perfect, the match is very good given your professional and work-related concerns. You probably experience significant personal and professional rewards from your work, and it makes you feel good about yourself. If you enjoy your job this much, consider yourself fortunate, but continue to look for ways to enhance it even further. One way is to clarify your long-term work and personal goals to see if you’re on track with your own vision of the future.

141-150: Abnormal job satisfaction

Although it’s possible that you really feel this good about your work, and the rest of your life seems to be in balance, it’s also possible that this is a sign of a “closet workaholic” or that you derive virtually all of your satisfaction and identity from one source. The danger is that if that source goes away or changes, you may not have any other source of satisfaction. Ask yourself: How important is work, really? Are you neglecting any other significant parts of your life to do your work? Are your personal relationships satisfying, or boring or even non-existent? Are you anxious to get back to work after some time off? Do you take a lot of work home because you want to or because you have to?

The point is: If you feel genuinely satisfied about your job and everything else is in balance as well, rejoice. But if that’s not the case, be wary about disregarding the rest of your life for your work. Sooner or later, this situation will catch up to you, and when it does, it may cause a variety of problems. Maybe it’s time for you to assess your career to see exactly how it fits into your life goals.