Job Hoppers End Up With Salary Cut

O utplacement firm Bernard Haldane Associates, which conducted the survey, said the reason for the shrinking salaries included bad advice from family and friends, overconfidence, or costly mistakes during salary negotiations, SmartPros reported.

“Despite the widespread availability of career experts, most still turn to family and friends for guidance,” said Jerry Weinger, chairman of Bernard Haldane Associates, according to SmartPros. “Thirty-six percent of respondents said they relied on friends or family whose advice may be undermining their success.”

Ironically, among those who looked for a job during the last five years, seven out of 10 boasted that they were confident in their ability to negotiate for top-dollar salaries.

The average length of a job search for white collar workers who took a new job was 16 weeks, and 12% of respondents among people who looked for a job reported that their search took more than 21 weeks, SmartPros said.

Among white collar workers, 67% used the Internet during their job search. Of those, 76% have e-mailed resumes to hiring managers and 48% used e-mail to send a thank you note after a job interview. Eighty percent researched a company before meeting with the hiring manager while 41% went online to find networking contacts that could help them with a job search.

“Most people reported that even strangers were eager to help when contacted for advice on a job search,” said Weinger. “Clearly, the Internet is one place where executives can significantly expand their networking pool.”

Haldane’s annual survey last year found that less than 4% landed their last position through the Internet and only 12% had used the Internet for networking.