When people think of the military, they usually picture unintelligent, shoot and kill machines.  And with similarly inaccurate portrayals in movies, it’s not hard to believe why people would second-guess enlisting in the military.

These ideas are far from accurate, in fact, people are happier in all four major branches of the military and the National Guard (in the top 11 out of 100 companies reviewed) than those working for Microsoft (39) and Disney (41) as shown in a study of the “Most Blissful Jobs in the United States” done by CareerBliss.

Overall, the military ranked high in career advancement, job security, benefits, and growth opportunity. For one military recruiter, this news was not unexpected; “For me personally, the reason I love it is I’m given a lot of responsibility that I wouldn’t necessarily have the opportunity to have out in the civilian world,” Staff Sergeant Daniel Novak, U.S. Marine Corps said. “And I got to see the effect of all the work I put in…you get a personal pride because of it.”

Contrary to popular belief, there are military jobs where you won’t be seeing combat, such as jobs dealing with administration (finances, accounting, legal affairs), construction, healthcare, media and public affairs, and more.

This study allows students see that there is much more to the military than guns and fighting; there are jobs for anyone interested in just about any subject.

Those wishing to join the military cannot simply sign up on a whim as many do in the corporate world. “When you enlist, you go through a lot of pre-training so you get a taste of what you will be doing before you commit,” Judi Gould, Moorpark College Career/Transfer Center said. She added that soldiers are making a conscious choice to join the armed forces, while corporate job hunters “will take what they can get.”

Which is why it makes sense that soldiers are happier than corporate employees.

People usually take a civilian job for financial reasons, finding out later that it wasn’t the job they expected.

Staff Sergeant Joshua Cardenas, U.S. Air Force, explains that the military’s high ranking in job security is related to soldiers knowing they will have their job for so many years. They can be promoted without waiting for senior management to retire, and then reenlist for a longer duration if they wish.  How many people do you know with that kind of job security?

Today’s military should be more than a fallback plan. A tour in the armed services can jumpstart anyone’s career. 

And who knows, you might be happy there.