Each year, WEDDLE’s analyzes the data supplied by visitors to its website who answer a questionnaire that explores both their online and real-world experience in finding a new or better job. We ask them to tell us where they found their last job and expect to find their next one in order to pinpoint which methods of job search work best in today’s economic climate and are likely work best in tomorrow’s. The results of the questionnaire provide what we call our annual Source of Employment Survey.

WEDDLE’s 2008 Source of Employment survey ran from March 2007 to March 2008 and generated responses from more than 15,600 individuals. The respondents were 65 percent male, 35 percent female; they had a median age of 40-45, and they described their workplace experience level as follows:

• 19.0 percent were managers
• 16.7 percent were mid-level professionals
• 15.5 percent were executives
• 15.1 percent were senior-level professionals
• 12.3 percent were entry-level professionals
• 11.0 percent were skilled tradespersons
• 10.4 percent were administrative persons

When asked to describe their employment situation:

• 25.1 percent said they were currently employed, but actively looking for another job
• 22.6 percent said they were not currently employed and actively seeking a new job
• 20.9 percent said they were currently employed and thinking about make a job change this year
• 15.7 percent said they were reentering the job market after a prolonged absence (two-plus years)
• 15.7 percent said they were employed and not planning to leave their current employer

Where Did Survey Respondents Find Their Last Job

When asked to identify where they found their last job, the respondents listed the following sources as their top 10 (not all sources are listed so the percentages will not total to 100 percent):

• 13.3 percent an ad posted on an Internet job board
• 7.0 percent a tip from a friend
• 6.8 percent other
• 6.3 percent a newspaper ad
• 6.2 percent by posting their resume on a job board
• 6 percent a call from a headhunter
• 5.8 percent they were referred by an employee of the company
• 5.2 percent they sent a resume to the company
• 4.9 percent at a career fair
• 4.8 percent by networking at work

How do these findings compare to those of a year ago? An ad posted on an Internet job board was the highest-ranked source last year, as well, but the percentage of respondents citing this source has almost doubled from 7.6 percent in 2007  to 13.3 percent in 2008. A tip from a friend was the second most cited source in 2007, as it was this year, but the third and fourth most cited sources in 2007— career fairs and a call from a headhunter — both dropped a bit in the rankings. Newspapers, on the other hand, gained a notch moving from the fifth most cited source in 2007 to the fourth most cited source in 2008, and the percentage of respondents citing newspapers went up, as well (from 5.7 percent in 2007 to 6.3 percent in 2008).

Respondents also gave a thumbs-down to two sources of employment that have generally been viewed more favorably by job search experts. Just 3.9 percent of the individuals in the poll said they found their last job:

• Through the publication of their professional association
• On a social networking site

Traditionally, associations have positioned their professional publications as a source of high caliber employment opportunities, and these findings, at least, suggest that those claims may not be completely justified.

Where Survey Respondents Look for Their Next Job

When asked to indicate where they expect to find their next job, the respondents cited the following top five sources (not all sources are listed so the percentages will not total to 100 percent):

• 19.0 percent said an ad posted on an Internet job board
  
• 7.9 percent said posting their resume on a job board
  
• 5.8 percent said sending their resume into the company
  
• 5.6 percent said a call from a headhunter
  
• 4.9 percent said by networking at work

The top five sources in 2007 were:

• An ad posted on an Internet job board (cited by 13.2 percent of respondents)
• Posting a resume on a job board
  
• Sending a resume into the company
  
• A tip from a family member
  
• A tip from a friend

So, what does all of this mean? There is no silver bullet for finding a new or better job. Online resources are clearly effective, but they must be integrated with a range of other approaches to produce a truly effective job search strategy.