NEW YORK, Oct. 2, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
The crash and burn of the American financial industry has left hundreds of thousands of financial service jobs exposed, but for how long? A recent Doostang survey of the financial services industry shows that 84.9% of employees believe the job market turmoil will continue past Q1 2009. Based on the job market uncertainty, more than half of all respondents plan on looking for a new job within the next three months.
"The employee fallout from Lehman, Wachovia and AIG is affecting all of us." said Mareza Larizadeh, Doostang's founder. "When more than three quarters of people surveyed tell you that they believe things won't get better for at least five months, and more than half are looking for new jobs right now, the pressure across all industries is acute. Doostang hopes to help them out."
Doostang, an exclusive online career advancement network for elite professionals, reached out to their top financial services members two weeks after the crash of Lehman and AIG and days after the sale of WAMU and Wachovia. Of the several hundred respondents, 57.8% have been working in the financial services industry for more than two years. The survey included questions regarding the market confidence, market outlook, and what employees are doing to safeguard their future. The report finds:
- 84.9% of respondents believe the job market turmoil will continue past Q1 2009
- 51.3% of respondents are somewhat to very unconfident in the financial services job market
- 50.8% of respondents plan on looking for a new job in the next three months
- 28.7% of respondents are considering leaving the financial services industry
- 56.5% of those considering leaving the financial services industry plan on moving into business development and management consulting
- 71.4% of respondents believe finance-specific professional networking sites are an important career advancement resource
With such high volatility in the finance services job market, Doostang is reaching out to help those directly affected by the recent Wall Street struggles. Originally an invite-only community, Doostang recently opened its site to allow financial industry professionals to join and network without an invite. Currently 23 company networks have been created, including Wachovia, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, and AIG. Current or former employees of these companies can gain direct access to the exclusive online career advancement network by visiting http://www.doostang.com/.
Doostang has seen a 40% increase in job applications the past few weeks. Members have also increased their activity on Q&A sessions and forum discussion posts on how to handle the financial fall out. Some of the top forum discussions surround resume critique, interview practice, job hunt best practices, and networking tips.
About Doostang:
Doostang is an exclusive online career community revolutionizing the way great people are placed with great companies. Founded in 2005, Doostang has grown rapidly amongst the nation's most talented and ambitious young professionals and, in turn, attracted the attention of leading employers. Today more than half a million professionals from the top national universities are on Doostang. Doostang is home to the recruiting efforts of Goldman Sachs, Google, McKinsey, Time Inc., Farallon, Ogilvy, and many more.
Doostang's offers members of its exclusive community the ability to find great jobs and internships, network, and be found by opportunities uniquely targeted to them. Employers eager to hire from this talent pool can post their openings to the website free of charge or elect to have Doostang fill these openings for them using Doostang's next-generation placement solution. Doostang's technology-driven approach delivers high caliber candidates and employers a better hiring experience than ever before.
Doostang.com is a privately held company, backed by Shasta Ventrues, headquartered in Palo Alto, CA. For more information, please visit http://www.doostang.com/.