What Your Pets Say About Your Career Path

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What Your Pets Say About Your Career Path

According to a new survey, your choice of pet says something about your career path.

Breeder’s Choice – Hypo-Translucent Bearded Dragon
Herper Headshotz – Jeff Washburn
From The Editor’s Desk 2011
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Corn Snake
Have a corn snake or other herp pet? You may be drawn to certain careers.

We’ve all heard people claim to be either a dog person or a cat person, and this pet preference is supposed to provide insight into their personality. But does the type of animal you own say anything about your career path? According to a nationwide survey released today by Careerbuilder.com, it does. The online survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, looked at pet ownership in relation to a person’s chosen profession, compensation and job satisfaction. More than 2,300 United States workers with pets were polled for the survey.

It found that workers with dogs were more likely to hold senior management positions, such as CEO or senior vice president. Workers with snakes or other reptiles were more likely to earn six figures, and bird owners were more likely to be satisfied with their jobs, according to the survey.

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In terms of career paths, the survey found that owners of certain pets were more likely to report being drawn to certain professions. Specifically:

  • Reptile owners were more likely to be engineers, social workers, marketing and public relations professionals, editors or writers and police officers.
  • Dog owners were more likely to be professors, nurses, information technology professionals, military professionals and entertainers.
  • Cat owners were more likely to be physicians, real estate agents, lab technicians, machine operators and personal caretakers.
  • Fish owners were more likely to be human resources professionals, financial professionals, hotel and leisure professionals, farming/fishing/forestry professionals and transportation professionals.
  • Bird owners were more likely to be advertising professionals, sales reps, construction workers and administrative professionals.