Women would like to be animal keepers, men professional athletes
Children dream of a future as an astronaut, train engineer, or actress. And what about adults? Women would most like to switch careers to become zookeepers. Men would prefer to earn their living as professional athletes. These are the findings of a representative study commissioned by the online professional network Xing.
On behalf of XING Switzerland, the market and opinion research company Marketagent.com surveyed around a thousand working people in German-speaking Switzerland on the subject of dream jobs. The most important results:
71 percent would trade their current job for their dream job
Swap your current job for your dream job? More than two-thirds of German-speaking Swiss (71 percent) would jump at the chance if age and education were irrelevant. When asked why they would like to swap their current job for their dream job, almost half of those surveyed (49 percent) cited more fun at work as the reason. A meaningful job was among the reasons for about a third (32 percent) of respondents. Other important factors were the intellectual challenge (30 percent) and the realization of a childhood dream (29 percent). Only then comes the salary: around a quarter (26 percent) would want to swap jobs for the money. Public reputation and prestige, on the other hand, are of little interest. Only just one in ten (11 percent) say that fame and honor would persuade them to change jobs.
Women would like to be veterinarians, men professional athletes
Women would most like to switch to being an animal keeper (9 percent), doctor (7 percent) or psychologist (5 percent). Men, on the other hand, would prefer to earn their bread as professional athletes (8 percent), followed by pilots (6 percent) and lawyers (5 percent). Animal caretakers are just eleventh among men (2 percent), on a par with mountain guides. For this, sweating at work usually goes down badly with women: Professional sportswoman is far behind in 16th place (1 percent), well behind less glamorous professions such as teacher (2 percent) or policewoman (2 percent).
18- to 24-year-olds dream of a career as an archaeologist
The most popular professions are fairly constant across the various age groups, with two notable exceptions: In the youngest age group, 18 to 24-year-olds, of all people, archaeologist comes in second (5 percent). In the 60- to 65-year-old age group, however, writer is at the top of the list (6 percent).
One in three would choose a different profession in retrospect
Almost one in three German-speaking Swiss (31 percent) are unhappy with their actual career choice and, looking back, would choose a different career direction. By contrast, slightly more than half of respondents (55 percent) are satisfied with their choice. Satisfaction with the chosen profession is highest at the beginning and end of a career. Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of young respondents between the ages of 18 and 24 and 70 percent of those between the ages of 60 and 65 are convinced of their own career choice. In the 40 to 49 age group, only just under half (49 percent) would choose the same career direction again.
Only one in four would recommend their own profession to young people
When it comes to the professional future of their own offspring, the German-speaking Swiss are much more critical of their own career choice. Only just under a quarter (24 percent) would recommend that their child choose the same career direction. 42 percent would advise their child to choose a career direction other than their own. Respondents in management positions would choose the same career direction for themselves more often than other hierarchical levels (69 percent). Nevertheless, the proportion of respondents in this group who would advise their offspring to choose the same career direction as their own is the lowest at 22 percent.
About the study
The survey was conducted in spring 2017 by the market and opinion research company Marketagent.com on behalf of XING Switzerland using Computer Assisted Web Interviews (CAWI). The respondents were n=1,003 employed persons in German-speaking Switzerland between the ages of 18 and 65. The survey participants were selected using a quota-controlled random procedure. The results of the study are representative for employed persons in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. When naming their dream job, participants could choose from a list of 36 professions in total: Lawyer, archaeologist, architect, doctor, astronaut, banker, bartender, mountain guide, hairdresser, television presenter, firefighter, flight attendant, researcher or inventor, photographer, photographer's assistant, photographer's assistant, photographer's assistant. inventor, photographer, journalist, cook, truck driver, teacher, fashion designer, model, pilot, politician, police officer, PR/social media manager, psychologist, restaurant critic, judge, singer, actor, writer, software developer, sports professional, ski or snowboard instructor, animal keeper, management consultant, magician.
