Marketing Executives Networking Group Releases Findings of Job Search Survey

• ShareThis Email PDF Print

At a time when macro-economic forces are generally working against senior-level individuals in transition, it's critically important to understand what works and what doesn't when it comes to finding your next career opportunity.

Old Saybrook, CT (PRWEB) May 19, 2009

The Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG), a nearly 2000 member, not-for-profit organization of senior-level marketing professionals, today issued the findings from an interesting survey conducted by Aline Strategies which looked at the various job lead generation tools, technology and methods that marketing professionals were using to expedite job transitions over the past three years.

The most significant finding of the survey was that networking, by far, represented the most successful job lead source for marketing executives. However, the survey distinguished between professional and personal networking, and found it is three times more productive to network with your professional contacts than with your personal network. Another noteworthy finding was that women were taking approximately one month longer to land their next marketing executive position than their male counterparts.

"MENG commissioned this survey to better understand if new technology and social media channels were disrupting the traditional executive search process and, more importantly, where we can advise our members to focus their time, energy and resources to secure their next, executive-level job opportunity," said Richard Sellers, Chairman of MENG and Founder of Demand Marketing.

"We were pleased to learn in the study that more MENG members found their next marketing opportunity through our members-only job board than any other job lead site. Since our inception in 1995, our organization has always known the power of networking. It's why networking is in our name and why we continually advocate to our members the importance of building and maintaining your professional network, especially when you're gainfully employed," added Sellers.

Recruiters were the second highest source of job leads that resulted in a landing for MENG members. While almost all MENG members used job search websites for their transitions, many of the high-profile, fee-based job search sites yielded poor overall results.

"While most people understand the value of professional networking during the job search process, the study revealed some misperceptions about what works. For example, most participants overvalue networking among friends, family, and acquaintances, and undervalue the role of recruiters. In addition, fee-based job search websites only yielded results for 2% of the participants, yet 88% subscribed to at least one," said Diane Warren, Principal of Aline Strategies. "At a time when macro-economic forces are generally working against senior-level individuals in transition, it's critically important to understand what works and what doesn't when it comes to finding your next career opportunity."

Additional survey findings include:

• MENG members averaged 8.5 months in transition with women marketing executives taking approximately one month longer than their male peers;
• 37% of survey participants found their next job through professional networking followed by 24% through recruiters, 14% through personal networking, 5% through MENG, and 20% by all other sources combined;
• Using electronic resume distribution services did not improve chances of landing a job;
• Time spent on trade associations, online want ads, personal search services, and college/alumni career centers generated minimal results for the participants in this survey;
• Outplacement support was not a meaningful source of job leads among the participants;
• Respondents whose job search was successfully completed wish they had spent more time networking with professional contacts (75%) and leveraging online social networking platforms like LinkedIn (49%); and
• Job postings through MENG led to more jobs than any job board or job search website.

The MENG Job Search Survey was conducted in the first quarter of 2009 by Aline Strategies, a business and marketing strategy company. A total of 430 senior marketing professionals who had been in job transition over the past three years contributed to the survey. To review the complete survey findings, visit MENG's online newsroom.

About the Marketing Executives Networking Group
The Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG) is the premier organization of senior level marketing professionals who have reached at least the VP level in their organization. This nearly 2,000 member not-for-profit networking community fosters career and personal success by sharing information and relationships for mutual assistance across virtually all industries and marketing specialties. Eighty four percent of the members have Fortune 500 experience and 70% have earned graduate degrees, the majority of which are from top-20 Business Schools. To learn more, visit http://www.MENGonline.com.

###

Share: