Flash Survey Results Part 2 – How Do Quants Find Their Jobs?

In my last blog, I posted results from a short “flash survey” of my analytics connections about their motivating factors when changing jobs. Although there are articles about where candidates in general find their jobs, I wanted to see how different those numbers might look for analytics professionals in particular. The second question in my quick survey was:

2.) What was the source of your last job?

Key Insights

• Not surprisingly, the most likely source for placement is someone within your network, with 36% of respondents having found their position through a referral or networking.
• The second most likely source is to apply directly with 30% of participants.
•  Executive recruiters and corporate recruiters account for roughly one-third – 34% combined – of all job sources.

It was not surprising to me that referrals and networking are the most common way that analytics professionals find their jobs. Recruiters show good representation in analytics (34%) when compared to the results from the general candidate population (16%). Working with a specialized recruiter with whom you have developed a strong relationship can be like an extension of your network, and a very well-connected one at that. Especially in such a specialized field, it works to your advantage if your recruiter can speak the same language that you do. It will be interesting to see how these numbers will change in the future.