Online Job Searchers More likely to Be Young, Educated, African-American

Online job searchers - those who have conducted a job search online in the past month - are 62 percent more likely than the total adult population to be 18-34 years old, 23 percent more likely to have at some college education, and 47 percent more likely to be African-American, according to (pdf) Scarborough Research (via MarketingCharts).

San Francisco and Norfolk, VA are the leading markets for online job searchers: Some 16 percent of consumers in these markets searched online for employment during the past month, versus the national average of 12 percent, Scarborough found. (View table of online job searcher percentages in local markets.)

Other findings:

• People already employed full-time or part-time are more likely to conduct online job searches then those who are not employed.
• The majority of employed online job searchers are white collar (68 percent), but about one-third (32 percent, or almost seven million) are blue collar.
• Online job searchers tend to come from middle-income to upper-income households.
• Even though they are already well-educated, online job searchers have a thirst for more knowledge or career advancement: They are nearly two-and-a-half times more likely than adults overall to plan to go back to school during the next year, and 63 percent more likely to have engaged in an adult continuing education program during the past year.
• Online job searchers are more likely than other internet audiences to be avid downloaders of digital content, such as music, television programs, video games and podcasts. They are heavy internet users overall.
• Online job searchers are more active and athletic than the average person and considerably more likely to engage in activities such as basketball, jogging, tennis and yoga.
• They are also more likely to enjoy a wide variety of social events, including attending rock and R&B/Hip-Hop concerts, visiting art museums, and going to the zoo.

“Job search websites are used daily by all types of people seeking employment, especially the young, educated and currently employed” said Gary Meo, SVP, digital media services, Scarborough Research.

“To differentiate themselves in a crowded marketplace, job search websites would do well to understand the job seeker’s desired geography, in both local and expanded job searches. Knowing the local-market characteristics of the job searchers desired location can help sites better position their services to both employers and applicants.”