How job search really works: the 2013 Job Seeker Survey
What happens when you ask 1,276 job seekers how they really look for work? You get some pretty interesting answers.
Earlier this fall, I collaborated with Job-Hunt.org (a career resource and advice site) and eHarmony (a dating site planning to enter online recruiting) to reach out to two distinctive types of survey respondents:
– Active seekers: 275 respondents from Job-Hunt.org’s and JobBoardDoctor’s audience. These respondents are well-informed about career issues and online recruiting
– Random respondents: 1,001 respondents from a random sample (provided by USamp) of US residents ages 20-60. This sample is more representative of the population at large.
What did we find out?
- General job boards and job search engines are used most often by both sets of respondents
- The random sample relied most heavily on search engines, general job boards, and newspaper ads
- Desktop and laptop computers continue to be the primary tool in job search; mobile devices are used primarily for job search and employer research.
- 65% of the active seekers have found work via a referral from a friend or colleague
- Facebook is the most popular social media job search tool with the random sample (57%), while LinkedIn was top with the active seekers (93%)
The infographic below provides some more highlights from the survey. To download complete results, go to the Research area of the site (free registration required).
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[…] The results of the 2013 Job Seeker survey. (RT @JohnSumser: How job search really works: the 2013 Job Seeker Survey http://t.co/V3eb9nrJyX) […]
I find it interesting that already 41% of candidates are browsing jobs via mobile devices, that makes responsive design rather important right now i guess, on the other hand it is no surprise that only few of them apply, as probably no one is storing his resume on mobile phone.
I am not exactly sure what the “79% rank referrals as important” mean? Is it how important candidates think it is to have some insider in the company who can tell a good word about you to the employer? (hope that makes sense)
Greg, right. The candidates are ranking referrals as what they view to be an important way to get a job – higher than the other methods. – Jeff
[…] a survey of 1,276 job seekers. He, along with partners Job-Hunt.org and eHarmony.com, learned that job hunters are leaning on mobile devices for their job search and employer […]