We’re terrible at predicting what will make us happy. When asked which factors they’d look for in a 'dream job', most people mention high income and low stress levels, i.e. a well-paid but relatively easy job. At first glance, this sounds great, but the evidence suggests that avoiding stress and having a high income aren’t that important, and have little effect on our overall happiness and job fulfilment. There are five factors of job satisfaction which I’ll discuss, and they're far better indicators of overall happiness and fulfilment at work than money or stress levels. Another common piece of career advice often doled out to high school students or recent graduates is to “follow your passion”, or “follow your heart”. Taken literally, however, the idea of following your passion is terrible advice. For most of us, our passions aren’t the same at 18 as they are at 35, and focusing only on what you’re passionate about now means you risk committing to projects that you soon find uninteresting. Also, most people simply don’t have passions that fit the world of work. The best predictors of job satisfaction are features of the job itself, so if you can find work with these essential features, passion, and more importantly, job fulfilment will follow.