Education–Job Match, Salary, and Job Satisfaction Across the Public,, Non-Profit, and For-Profit Sectors: Survey of recent college graduates

Using data from the 2006 Survey of Recent College Graduates, this study examines how education-job match and salary may explain recent college graduates' job satisfaction in the public, non-profit, and for-profit sectors. The results imply that while education-job match increases job satisfaction in all three sectors, for-profit workers may compensate the loss in job satisfaction due to poor match with increased satisfaction from higher salary. The findings suggest that, in the public and non-profit sectors, increased salary cannot make up the loss in job satisfaction from poor education-job match as much as it does in the for-profit sector.