#PandaPounds: How important is the industry you work in?

From luxury fashion to FMCG, there are so many industries embracing the wonderful world of Ecommerce. When it comes to settling into your career, does career happiness depend on the industry you work in?

We’ve decided to delve a little deeper into this subject, kicking off with some insights from our 2016 ecommerce salary survey and insights report. How do our survey respondents feel about industry when they are searching for a new opportunity? Is it more important than choosing the right brand? Let’s find out…

What industries do our respondents work in?

Before we delve any further, it was interesting to see a few of the industries our Ecommerce superstars are spreading magic for. We asked what industry their company operates under and here’s a quick overview:

• Retail – 35% of our respondents specified retail as the industry their company falls into.
• Fashion – 22% of our respondents work within the fashion industry, a hyper competitive landscape when it comes to standing out online.
• Beauty/Cosmetics – 7% of our respondents see their work take them into the realm of beauty & cosmetics.
• IT/Technology – Amongst our respondents, 11% work within the IT/Technology industry within Ecommerce.

Please note our respondents were given the option to choose more than one industry as, depending on their company, they possibly dip their toes in many pools! The list above is just a very brief insight; other industries our respondents work in include FMCG, Charity, Media, Leisure and Financial Services.

How long have our respondents worked within their current industry?

As a career develops, do people remain in an industry because they are comfortable with the landscape, or because they genuinely enjoy the work they can do within a certain industry? We thought we’d have a look at how long our respondents have worked within their respective industries…

There you have it! It’s very interesting to see how many of our respondents have spent quite a significant amount of time within their current industry. 31% have spent 2-5 years in their industries, while 27% have spent 5-10 years within their industry.

Compare this to how long our respondents have been with their current company/brand, where a huge 40% have been in their current role for less than a year. Could this mean the key to building a solid career plan is choosing an industry, rather than a brand, that you can really thrive in?

Considering the company industry in your job search

To round up our #PandaPounds focus, let’s look at how important the industry is to our respondents when they are searching for a new job…

• 46% believe that considering the industry is important when searching for a new role.
• Meanwhile, 13% believe it is absolutely essential.
• A surprising 33% are neutral to the industry a potential new role operates under. Looking at how long our respondents have been in their current industries above, it could be that because they are dedicated to a certain industry they don’t consider it a major factor in the job search. Perhaps they prioritise other considerations and narrow their job search down by their desired industry from the start of their job search.
• However, 8% think industry is not important at all. Does this mean some people will consider an entirely new industry as part of a big career shakeup?

That’s a wrap…for now

Looking at the stats from our ecommerce salary survey, there are so many questions surrounding the industry a person works in. So, stay tuned for more posts focussed on this very important subject…

• How easy is it to switch industries when looking for a new role?
• Industry VS Brand – We have touched upon this briefly in this #PandaPounds post, but we can explore it much further…what should job seekers prioritise when they are career planning or finding a new role?
• How do you know what industry is for you?
• Looking at each of our ecommerce specialisms, from Online Merchandising to Digital Marketing, how different are these roles in specific industries?

In the meantime, keep your eye on our #PandaPounds blog page for more wonderful insights from the world of Ecommerce.