Mergis Group Social Status Survey Reveals Finance Professionals Most Socially Active on Facebook With Family & Friends; Utilize LinkedIn to Job Search

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of finance professionals revealed that they have a social media account, which is primarily being utilized to connect with friends and family via Facebook, according to the new Mergis Group Social Status survey. Despite this, when it comes to using social media in the job search, LinkedIn was the definitive favorite.

Among the key findings:

The Social Status of Finance Professionals

• Seventy-two percent of finance professionals have a social media account(s), with the most popular sites being Facebook (88 percent) and LinkedIn (58 percent).
• Roughly a quarter of those surveyed belong to MySpace (26 percent), Twitter (24 percent), YouTube (20 percent) and Classmates.com (20 percent).
• Facebook was the dominant social media site utilized among finance professionals, with nearly three-fourths (74 percent) listing it as their primary social site.

How Social Are Finance Professionals?

• When asked how they conduct the majority of their networking, 45 percent of financial professionals revealed that they do so in written communications, such as emails, letters, etc. More than a quarter (28 percent) primarily network face-to-face, while 15 percent do so via social media.
• Forty-six percent of finance professionals use social sites to network with both personal contacts, such as friends and relatives, and with business contacts (such as co-workers, colleagues and managers/bosses).  

Social Media in the Job Search and Workplace

• Up to 47 percent of finance workers say they might or would modify and/or delete content if they knew a prospective employer was going to review their page as part of the interview process.
• Of those financial professionals who have used social media in their job search (37 percent), LinkedIn is the predominant social media site used to look for jobs, with 73 percent indicating usage. Facebook came in a distant second (32 percent).
• When asked if their company had a formal policy regarding the usage of social media sites for work, 43 percent of finance workers said their company did not.  On the contrary, 34 percent indicated that their company does have a formal policy, while 23 percent did not know.

"The Mergis Group Social Status Survey has certainly offered some unique insight into the mindsets of financial professionals," stated Brendan Courtney, president of The Mergis Group. "Many professionals have adapted social media into not only their personal lives, but their daily business interactions as well. However, one common thread remains — social media is clearly making a migration into the job search and the workplace. It is important for job seekers to be aware of what information they are sharing with prospective employers and colleagues within these networks and to understand just how far-reaching one's digital footprint can be."

Link to the Full Report

Survey Methodology & Full Results

Methodology

The Mergis Group Social Status survey was conducted online by an independent third party research firm on behalf of The Mergis Group within the United States between July 14 and August 6, 2010 among a U.S. sample of 443 financial professionals.  

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with non-response, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, the use of "margin of error" is misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, un-weighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published surveys come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were randomly selected from among those who have agreed to receive communication, so no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

About The Mergis Group

The Mergis Group is a leading professional placement firm that specializes in recruiting for positions in finance and accounting, engineering and manufacturing, sales and marketing, legal and human resources. The firm provides recruiting services to Fortune 500 and small and mid-sized companies through its network of 35 offices nationally.

The Mergis Group is a division of SFN Group, Inc. SFN operates a family of specialty businesses providing strategic workforce solutions in professional services and general staffing. To learn more, please visit www.mergisgroup.com.

SOURCE The Mergis Group