It's a question which we are frequently asked. In any network, it's common to want to know something more about the other members. In a virtual network, where you only interact with the keyboard and screen for most of the time, gathering interesting background information about your colleagues in the network is even more difficult.

For two weeks, TrainingZONE has been running a profiling campaign and during that time, 1,400 TrainingZONE members entered information about themselves which we have been able to aggregate for the purposes of this short article. Such a number is more than adequate as a representative sample and so we are very confident of the overall picture presented. In line with our comprehensive privacy policy, we will maintain absolute confidentiality regarding the information supplied by individual members; we will not be revealing personal or professional information or contact details to any other party.

Here then is a profile of the current TrainingZONE membership:

Gender:

• Male 50.5%
  
• Female 49.5%

Ages:

• Under 25 3.70%
  
• 25-34 31.09%
  
• 35-50 50.37%
  
• over 50 14.84%

Current salary:

• Under £20k 15.63%
  
• £20-30k 29.89%
  
• £30-60K 29.22%
  
• Over £60k 6.18%
  
• Withheld 19.13%

Internet usage:

• Daily 86.27%
  
• Weekly 12.54%
  
• Monthly 0.263%
  
• Access at home only 25.77%
  
• Access at work only 22.96%
  
• Access at home and at work 51.27%

Do you conform to the "average" TrainingZONE user: a mid-career person, earning around £30-£35k, who is internet-savvy?

The nature of your employment:

• Trainer/tutor/coach/mentor 31.85%
  
• Training manager 21.08%
  
• HR/personnel manager 8.15%
  
• Other manager 11.29%
  
• Supplier to the training/HR sector 9.04%
  
• Academic/student 3.19%

Where do you work?:

• Industry/commerce 43.7%
  
• Public sector 12.6%
  
• Self-employed 12.1%
  
• Academia 7.7%
  
• Voluntary sector 3.6%
  
• Student 0.8%
  
• Other sectors 8.1%

Where do you live?

• UK 87%
  
• North America 4.6%
  
• Rest of European Union 3%
  
• Australia/New Zealand 1.3%
  
• And 30 other countries around all five continents (including China, Oman, Chile, Bulgaria, Iceland, Iran and Lebanon)

Your membership of professional bodies

• Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development 35.1%
  
• Institute of IT Training 8.2%
  
• Institute of Supervision and Management 4.42%
  
• Institute of Training and Occupational Learning 6.43%
  
• Institute of Continuing Professional Development 4.36%
  
• Other body 35.5%

  Tim Pickles
  14 August 2000