Nearly one-third of white collar workers who changed jobs during the last year took a pay cut, in part because of bad advice from family and friends, according to a national survey. Nearly 30% of those executives surveyed who said they took a new job, accepted pay cuts, sometimes because of overconfidence or costly mistakes during salary negotiations.

Despite the widespread availability of career experts, most still turn to family and friends for guidance. Thirty-six percent of respondents said they relied on friends or family whose advice may be undermining their success.

Ironically, among those who looked for a job during the last five years, 70% described themselves as ‘confident’ in their ability to negotiate for top dollar.

The average length of a job search for white-collar workers who took a new job was 16 weeks, while 12% of respondents reported that their search took more than 21 weeks, among people who looked for a job.

Internet Evolves as Search Tool

Among white collar workers, 67% used the Internet during their job search. Of those, seventy-six percent have emailed resumes to potential employers and 48% used email to send a thank you note after a job interview. Eighty percent researched a company prior to a job interview and 41% went online to find networking contacts who could help them with a job search.

Most people reported that even strangers were eager to help when contacted for advice on a job search. Clearly, the Internet is one place where executives can significantly expand their networking pool.

Last year, we surveyed all types of workers and found that less than 4% landed their last position through the Internet and only 12% had used the Internet for networking.

Career Consultants Corp. commissioned Taylor Nelson Sofres to conduct the survey of 871 American adults who identified themselves as white collar workers who have job-hunted in the last five years.