Even with the rapid growth of Internet job sites like Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com, job seekers are still most likely to rely on a little help from their friends, family, and connections in their searches, according to Gallup.

A recent Gallup Panel survey asked a targeted sample of job seekers a series of questions about their behaviors and opinions relative to their most recent job search. The sample consisted of those who are currently unemployed and seeking a job as well as those who are currently employed and were searching for a job or had searched for employment in the past six months. These job seekers answered questions about the tools and functions they used when searching for employment. They then rated the effectiveness of the tools and relationships they used. Hiring organizations should consider these ratings and opinions as they develop recruitment and employment branding strategies.

Personal connections and recommendations rank high

Job seekers are most likely to rely on personal connections and their own experiences with potential hiring organizations when looking for work. Specifically, job seekers are most likely to say they used friends and family (74%) and referrals from current employees at a company (70%) as resources when searching for a job. Also, two-thirds of respondents say they used their own experience with or perception about an organization when they were looking for a job (65%). Additionally, 40% of job seekers say they used referrals from the potential hiring company's customers or vendors as a resource when looking for a position.

Nearly two-thirds of job seekers (62%) say they used online job databases to look for work. Smaller percentages of these job seekers say they used other Web-based resources, such as specific organizations' Web sites (56%), search engines such as Google and Yahoo! (39%), professional or trade association Web sites (36%), online networking tools (29%), online job ads (28%), and their college's career center or Web site (16%).

After identifying which types of search functions and tools they used to look for work, job seekers rated the effectiveness of each resource. Potential employees were more likely to deem referrals and personal interaction effective than other kinds of search tools, including Web-based databases and search functions. About two-thirds of job seekers say referrals from an organization's current employees are at least somewhat effective when looking for work, while half of respondents rate friends and family as similarly effective resources. At least one-third of job seekers also rate their own experiences or perceptions of organizations and referrals from the organizations' customers as an effective resource.

One-third of job seekers consider organizations' Web sites to be an at least somewhat effective resource when searching for employment. However, respondents are less likely to consider any number of online resources and tools as effective as the personal connections and experiences mentioned above. One-quarter of job seekers say online job databases are at least somewhat effective during the job hunt, while no more than 20% of respondents mention any of the other cyber-search resources as at least somewhat effective tools.

Copyright Ó 2008 The Gallup Organization, Princeton, NJ.  All rights reserved.  Reprinted with permission.  Visit The Gallup Management Journal at http://gmj.gallup.com/

Article from The Gallup Management Journal