ANSWERING THE CALL

Money isn't everything. Prestigious titles, luxurious corner offices and big expense accounts don't count for much, either, according to a job satisfaction survey conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. The group queried 27,500 random workers in 198 occupations between 1988 and 2006.

Members of the clergy topped the list, with 87 percent saying they were very satisfied with their jobs. By comparison, the average satisfaction rate among all workers was 47 percent.

Physical therapists and firefighters ranked second and third, with more than three-quarters of respondents being very satisfied. Other occupations in the top 10 were education administrators, painters/sculptors, teachers, authors, psychologists, special education teachers and operating engineers.

Job satisfaction, it seems, doesn't stem from a six-figure income or fame. Based on survey results, the most satisfying jobs are professions that involve caring for, protecting or teaching others and creative pursuits, said Tom W. Smith, director of the National Opinion Research Center's General Social Survey.

Atlanta representatives from the top three occupations in the survey agreed. Job satisfaction, they said, comes from intrinsic values, such as doing work that matters, is creative, helps others and provides an opportunity for lifelong learning.

Their stories tell it better.

Ray Jones III, minister, Macland Presbyterian Church, Powder Springs

Having just returned from his first three-month sabbatical after 23 years in ministry, Ray Jones has spent a lot of time lately thinking about his role as a minister. While reading, writing, climbing mountains and enjoying the beach, he often pondered the idea of calling — his, in particular.

"I often revisited the quote about calling by [clergyman and author] Frederick Buechner. He said calling is 'where your greatest joy meets the world's deepest need,' " Jones said.

"My satisfaction doesn't come from the office of ministry, but as I claim my own God-given life and live into it. It's more about being a disciple of Christ and learning what it means to be part of his 2,000-year-old kingdom.

"I've always had a desire to help people, and I've always known God's presence in my life, but ministry isn't just about helping people. It's figuring out what that means by help from the Holy Spirit."

Jones headed to college planning to pursue a career in medicine but soon found his talents weren't suited for it. Instead, he began talking to his pastor about ministry and entered a seminary.

Many young ministers leave the profession after several years in the job, when they discover that managing a church isn't like "a big Sunday school class, where you learn some cool stuff, do some mission work, and everybody gets along," Jones said. He chose to stay and keep trying to figure it out.

Being a minister isn't something he takes for granted.

"You know that you're doing something that matters in people's lives and in the world. If the world could actually witness Christians living with love, doing justice, working for peace and being merciful, then the world would change. If we really lived like Christ, the light would shine through," he said.

"I've always been proud to tell people who I am. But ordination isn't a right. It was an honor that the church saw something in me and ordained me. Twenty-three years into it, I'm still learning how to do my job."

He knows that his gifts are in communicating and teaching, creating a vision for his church — which has a stated mission of "reaching the lost, raising disciples and relieving suffering" — and helping people grow in relationships with God and others.

His challenges come from learning to set boundaries and to delegate those things that others can do better, such as organizing and counseling. "I know just enough to be dangerous, so I often refer people to therapists, who are trained to do it," Jones said.

"You always want to rush to the rescue, but if you're just out to rescue people, you will run out of energy very quickly," Jones said. "My gift is for helping people find God in their lives and to see in the church a community that can help them along the path of discipleship. When I can stay in that frame of mind, my satisfaction level is very high."

Bethany Nelson, staff physical therapist, DeKalb Medical's Outpatient Rehab Results Group, Decatur

"I was fortunate to learn early what I wanted to do," Bethany Nelson said.

When she was in eighth grade, her favorite cousin, then a high school senior, had a three-wheeler accident that crushed his spine. He became a paraplegic.

Physical therapists helped her cousin physically and emotionally to develop a great attitude.

"I watched him go from not being able to sit up to playing sports like tennis and pingpong. I saw him go from having no hope to having all the hope in the world," she said. "I saw him get his life back, and I knew I wanted to help people like that."

Nelson got her undergraduate degree in psychology, which helps her understand and motivate clients, and a master's degree in physical therapy. In seven years, she has worked with children and adults in acute care, home health and rehabilitation services, and she calls herself a general practitioner.

"My toolbox is very diverse and I'm glad, because almost every day I see a diagnosis I've never seen before. I love the intellectual stimulation of challenges," she said.

One of her recent patients was a 73-year-old woman who had had one leg amputated above the knee and the other knee stuck in a bent position. Nelson helped her walk again.

"She had arthritis in both wrists, so a normal walker didn't work, and it was difficult for her to balance on the prosthesis," she said.

Nelson finally came up with a platform walker, which allowed the patient to rest her weight on her forearms. "I never gave up. My brain just kept working with the puzzle," she said.

Nelson loves her job, and it doesn't surprise her that other physical therapists are just as satisfied.

"I could have gone to medical school, but I wanted more hands-on time with patients. The quality of the work experience was way more important than the financials," she said. "The relationships I develop with patients and colleagues is a wonderful part of my job. I stay in touch with many of them, and they'll come back and surprise me with their progress."

She also loves that she constantly is learning and that her colleagues push one another to keep raising the bar of care.

"We constantly challenge each other to better ourselves," she said.

Denell Boyd, firefighter and public information officer, Cobb County Fire and Emergency Services, Marietta

When Denell Boyd — all 5 feet 4 inches and 125 pounds of her — tells people that she's a firefighter, they don't always believe her.

"I don't look the part, but I passed the same physical tests as every other rookie, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm proud to be a firefighter, and I love my job," she said.

Boyd had stayed home to raise three children for 16 years and was looking for a job when a friend who was a firefighter encouraged her to try it.

In the eight-month hiring process and six months of training, she learned that firefighting is as much mental as physical. Trying to find your way into or out of a dark, hot, burning building with hoses and debris everywhere takes wits as well as brawn.

"I'm so glad I did it. It taught my kids, especially the girls, that they can do whatever they want to do," Boyd said.

Working and living on 24-hour shifts with mostly male firefighters took some getting used to.

"You go into a fire with a buddy, and you never come out without him. That shared experience creates strong bonds — a brotherhood and sisterhood. They're my second family," she said of her co-workers.

She likes the excitement — "driving a firetruck is a high all its own" — but, as a mom, finds having to treat injured children extremely challenging. About 80 percent of a firefighter's calls are emergencies that require EMT skills. The ongoing training gives her confidence to put emotions aside until later and to do what needs to be done.

"Somebody needs to do this, and I think I was chosen. I definitely felt a call that this is what I'm supposed to do," she said. "I love helping others, and I know I'm saving lives and property. When I see people at their worst, I try to put myself in their shoes."

Boyd doesn't expect to get rich, misses many holidays and birthdays with her family, and is aware of the personal risks. Yet she still finds the job rewarding.

"To be satisfied in your work, I think you need to be happy and proud," she said. "You need to feel that what you do is rewarding and worthwhile."