As many as 71% of respondents believe that connections are important for getting a job

The MojPosao portal conducted a survey during the 7th regional Virtual Career and Knowledge Days (October 19 to 26, 2016) in collaboration with leading job advertising portals in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Posao.ba) and Serbia (Infostud.com), aimed at determining the similarities and differences in the labor market in these three countries.

Over 2,300 respondents participated in the survey. The majority of respondents were from Serbia (60%), Croatia (31%), and Bosnia and Herzegovina (9%).

Of the respondents from Croatia, 51% are employed, 35% unemployed, while 14% are still in school.

By the end of this year, the majority of respondents do not expect either a raise (61%) or a promotion (68%). This year, 11% of respondents have already received a raise, and 7% have been promoted. The highest expectations for a raise are among respondents from Serbia (23%) and one-fifth of respondents from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia (20%).

When it comes to changing jobs, one-third of respondents (34%) plan to change jobs this year, which is slightly lower than last year when 39% of respondents planned to change jobs. A quarter of respondents (24%) plan to change jobs only if they are forced to do so. As in previous years, respondents from Serbia intend to change jobs the most, while those from Bosnia and Herzegovina intend to do so the least.

The majority of respondents are not afraid for their jobs (61%). A good portion still fears for job security (32%), although this group is significantly smaller compared to last year.

If they could choose an ideal employer, the majority of respondents, as in previous years, would choose a foreign owner (31%). One-third of respondents (30%) would prefer to work for themselves, while as many as 19% would work for the state. The state as an employer is popular in Croatia and Serbia, while respondents from Bosnia and Herzegovina do not prefer this option. Among all respondents, those from Bosnia and Herzegovina are the most inclined towards entrepreneurial ventures.

At the workplace, respondents do not consider money to be the most important factor, but rather interpersonal relationships (40%) and recognition for work done (26%). Money ranks only third, with only 17% of respondents stating that it is the most important element.

Half of the employed respondents (53%), as in the previous year, cite experience as the most important element for getting a job. Knowledge, skills, and even connections were mentioned by 47% of respondents. The importance of recommendations was recognized by only 30% of respondents, while 23% believe that having a completed degree is important for getting a job.

One-third of unemployed respondents (34%) in Croatia are without jobs because their contracts were not extended, while a quarter (21%) did not find a job after finishing their education. Due to the economic crisis, 15% of respondents lost their jobs, and 8% decided to seek better opportunities.

The practice of not extending fixed-term contracts is most common in Croatia, where 34% of respondents cited this as a reason for unemployment, while 22% of respondents from Serbia and 27% from Bosnia and Herzegovina mentioned the same.

A group of 31% of unemployed respondents have been without jobs for less than three months, while 19% have been unemployed for one to three years. The shortest ‘tenure’ of unemployment is among respondents from Croatia; 31% have been unemployed for up to three months, while 15% are in Serbia and 27% in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

On specialized websites for job advertisements, 79% of respondents are looking for jobs. On social media, 49% of respondents are searching for jobs, while only 15% of respondents check printed ads.

Since becoming unemployed, a quarter of respondents (25%) have applied for an average of 20 job openings, and 25% have applied for up to ten openings. Nineteen percent of respondents have applied for more than 100 job openings, while 9% have not applied for any job openings.

For 62% of respondents, the most important factor when choosing a job is working hours, and 57% of respondents mentioned salary. Job security and professional development are important for 56% of respondents at the workplace.

It is disappointing that as many as 71% of unemployed respondents believe that connections are primarily important for getting a job, which is an increase compared to last year when 67% of respondents stated the same. The same is believed by 47% of employed respondents and 51% of those still in school. The remaining unemployed respondents, 54%, believe that experience is important for getting a job, while 44% cite luck.

Comparing unemployed respondents from the three countries, it appears that Croatians are the most likely to believe that connections are necessary for getting a job, followed by respondents from Bosnia and Herzegovina (64%), while only 38% of respondents from Serbia believe the same.

The highest number of respondents who are still in school (32%) expect to find a job within one to three months, and 26% expect to find a job within three to six months after finishing their education. Seven percent of respondents believe they will be job hunting for six months to a year, while 18% believe they will be looking for more than a year.

The majority of respondents (63%) who are still in school believe that the most important factors for getting a job are knowledge and skills, experience (61%), and formal education (59%). Connections were mentioned by 51% of respondents. Only 32% of respondents believe that additional education is important for getting a job, while 46% consider recommendations to be important. Interestingly, 42% of respondents believe that luck is the most important factor for getting a job.

A quarter of respondents (24%) consider their career to be very important in life, especially respondents from Croatia (64%), but this is significantly less than last year when 40% of respondents stated that their career was very important. The largest number of respondents (64%) stated that their career is important, but not very important, while 11% of respondents say that it is ‘indifferent’.