Over Half American Workers Have Five Year Career Goal - And A Plan To Get There.

Jake GammonHead of Omnibus, US
May 01, 2014, 5:43 PM GMT+0

American professionals are more career focused than their British counterparts, and are far more likely to use social media to build their networks, share knowledge and look for jobs.

YouGov surveyed nationally representative samples of working adults in the US and UK, and found that over half (51%) of American workers use social media for work purposes, compared to less than four in 10 (38%) British employees. A quarter (24%) of American professionals say they have used social media to look for a job, compared to 19% of Brits, and nearly a third (29%) say they have been approached on social media about a job, while just 18% of Brits have.

American professionals are also more likely to use social media to share knowledge with others in their field (47% vs 39%), and to agree that social media makes it easier to collaborate in their own organisation (34% vs 24%).

Americans more driven, less patient

American professionals tend to be more driven in pursuing their career goals. 79% of American workers say they are constantly seeking out opportunities to learn new things and develop their skills, compared to just 56% of Brits. Over half (55%) of American workers say they know exactly where they want their career to be in five years’ time and how they’re going to get there, compared to 40% of Brits.

Americans are less patient employees, with a third (34%) saying they would prefer to move on rather than wait if their employer doesn’t offer progression within an acceptable timeframe, compared to a quarter (26%) of Brits who would rather move on than wait.

UK and US Views on Social Media at Work

LinkedIn

While British professionals are less engaged with social media generally, they report being more active on LinkedIn, while American employees use a wider array of social media sites for work purposes, including Facebook, glassdoor.com and Google +. Both Brits (69%) and Americans (60%) report using LinkedIn for professional networking in the past month.