Oh hey, it’s another Summer Friday!
Last week we posted on a super scientific study by our bros over at CareerCast which found that web developers are the next ad industry superstars, creative directors be damned.
It was enough to get us kind of depressed, especially when the general response from readers was some variation on “fucking duh.”
Now, however, we have somehow managed to locate a NEW study from staffing company Robert Half and Happiness Works indicating that people who work in the creative business are happier than those in any other discipline!
This despite all that job insecurity, existential dread and deep regrets over your college major.
Uh, nope. We did not know that.
Here’s a variation on that key line: those who do creative work “reported the highest levels of on-the-job satisfaction and interest in their work, compared to employees in the accounting and finance, administrative, legal, and technology fields.”
Yes, even tech.
In case you doubt the validity of this study, it surveyed more than 12,000 Americans and Canadians who work in creative and marketing jobs, so there! Staffing firm The Creative Group also conducted a separate survey in which 400 American ad/marketing executives were asked to do a bit of the old free association by describing their companies in one word.
Here’s a helpful word cloud…
Diverse? Really?? Have these 400 men and women read any trade publications recently, or does that mean diversity in terms of, like, life experience?
The top “positive” words provided by agency execs included:
- Entrepreneurial
- Futuristic
- Hardworking
- Intense
- Nimble
- Playful
- Risky
- Vocal
Does the last one concern speaking up to bosses? After running this blog for the last three years, we have some serious doubts about that.
Marketing leaders (not clear what the difference is here, really, so we presume it’s agency vs. client-side) even characterized their work environments as “caring” and “dependable” and “inclusive.”
On the flip side, here are some of the negative terms volunteered by these lucky folks: aggressive; complacent; hectic; reserved; struggling.
See, that sounds more like it. In summary, people like to lie when participating in surveys, so you have to grade them on a big curve. Kind of like Instagram feeds!