In Spring 2014, Mindfield conducted a job seeker survey which was distributed to 10,000 Canadians who had applied for a job within the last year. We had a response of 8.26% with 826 respondents from a cross-section of locations and age ranges. The survey uncovered some key findings, correlations and trends that exist within the Canadian job seeker market. The following is a high level analysis of the survey findings conducted by Mindfield.
Survey at a Glance
The survey was completed by 58% males and 42% females with the highest number of respondents from the male 41+ age bracket. The breakdown of age ranges were as follows, 14% 15-20 years old, 17% 21-25 years old, 12% 26-30 years old, 19% 31-40 years old and 37% 41+ years old. We saw the highest response rates from job seekers in Ontario and BC. The provincial responses showed the following percentages, 31% Ontario, 30% BC, 15% Alberta, 12% Manitoba, 3% Saskatchewan, and 7% remaining provinces. When asked about education levels, the highest response bracket was tied with high school and some college. The results showed 24% High School, 24% Some College, 21% University Degree, 13% College Degree, and 7% Less than High School.
Canadian Job Seeker Survey Analysis
When asked which factors were most important when applying for a new job the results showed company culture ranked first. This result was followed closely by wage and then flexibility in shifts. Friends working at a location was the least important factor in applying for a job.
A portion of the survey was dedicated to finding out if employees would have an interest level in using a social network to connect with other employees. The results revealed regardless of age, geography or gender, the majority of respondents were interested in using a social network to connect with other employees. We found the older the respondent the more likely they were to use Facebook frequently. The 15-20 year olds were the lowest ranked users of Facebook. An even number of respondents said they use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and/or Snapchat, leading us to believe that this age range’s interests are far more spread comparatively to older brackets.
When asked where job seekers in Canada found their last job the results showed regardless of age or gender, the number one answer where individuals found their last job was job boards. Word of mouth was second to follow. The majority of provinces also used job boards with the exception of more rural provinces including Nunavut, North West Territories, etc.
When looking at correlations between age and location of a job, we found the older the respondent the more likely they were to be willing to travel beyond 20+ KMs for work. In addition, the job seeker survey revealed there was a strong correlation between age and wage. We found the older the respondent, the more important wage played in applying for a job.