Would you use Facebook to look for jobs?
If your a business owner would you use Facebook to look for prospective employees?
Did you know that Facebook has had a site called Facebook Jobs for a year now?
A year ago, Facebook made it possible for businesses to create job postings and for job seekers to apply for those openings directly on the social network in the U.S. and Canada.
Facebook is rolling out job posts to 40 more countries to make itself more meaningful to people’s lives while laying the foundation for a lucrative business.
FACEBOOK JOBS
Facebook’s tools are geared toward small businesses, which employ about half of U.S. workers and represent about an important market for Facebook’s advertising business.
Businesses and people on the social network can use the feature for free, which is geared toward helping local businesses find candidates nearby.
Since debuting the tool last year, Facebook has added features that allow businesses to create job posts, manage applications and schedule interviews, entirely on mobile. Job seekers can set up job alerts for the types of roles that interest them.
The international expansion, which is rolling out on desktop and mobile, could help Facebook compete more seriously with other recruitment and jobs platforms such as Microsoft-owned LinkedIn, Glassdoor and Monster.com.
Roughly 26% of consumers found or searched for a job on Facebook, according to a 2017 Morning Consult Intelligence survey commissioned by Facebook.
Businesses will be able to post job openings to a Jobs tab on their Page, Jobs dashboard, Facebook Marketplace, and the News Feed that they can promote with ads. Meanwhile, job seekers can discover openings, auto-fill applications with their Facebook profile information, edit and submit their application, and communicate via Messenger to schedule interviews.
“One in four people in the US have searched for or found a job using Facebook” writes Facebook’s VP of Local Alex Himel. “But 40% of US small businesses report that filling jobs was more difficult than they expected. We think Facebook can play a part in closing this gap.”
SMALL BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE
Businesses, meanwhile, can create job postings from their Page that include details such as job type, salary information and location.
Businesses can pay to boost posts to reach a targeted set of potential candidates through news feed, similarly to buying a typical Facebook advertisement. Job posts will also appear on a business’ Page, in the Jobs dashboard and in Facebook’s buy-and-sell tab, Marketplace.
Once employers have connected with applicants, they can schedule interviews and set up automated reminders directly through Messenger.
The online food shop Edible Arrangements, for example, used the tool to fill seven open positions in three weeks, receiving 97 applications after spending about $20 to boost the job opening on Facebook.
An indoor trampoline park in Illinois called Sky Zone received 200 applications within one week of posting 11 positions.
FACEBOOK TAKES ON LINKEDIN
LinkedIn wasn’t built for low-skilled job seekers, so Facebook is barging in.
The social network first rolled out job postings and job applications last year to users in the U.S. and Canada. At the time, journalists declared it a war against LinkedIn, but LinkedIn is geared toward highly skilled and highly educated workers.
Facebook is trying to draw in candidates for small- and medium-size businesses. The company’s job postings skew local—a clerk position at a downtown bookstore, for instance, or a sales job at a bait-and-tackle shop.
“One in four people in the US have searched for or found a job using Facebook” writes Facebook’s VP of Local Alex Himel. “But 40% of US small businesses report that filling jobs was more difficult than they expected. We think Facebook can play a part in closing this gap.”
The Job posts rollout could help Facebook steal some of the $1.1 billion in revenue LinkedIn earned for Microsoft in Q4 2017. But the bigger opportunity is developing a similar business where companies pay to promote their job openings and land hires, but for lower-skilled local companies in industries like retail and food service.
In this space, job applicants often don’t have glowing resumes and education histories that look good on LinkedIn. They might not even be on the site, and if they are, they probably don’t spend much time there. But they may already have their limited professional experience listed and they spend a ton of time casually browsing the site.
This lets Facebook connect them with job even if they weren’t actively seeking a position, and quickly apply to lots of different positions by piggybacking off their profile info.
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDEPENDENT BUSINESS
Reports that “The lack of ‘qualified’ workers is impeding growth in employment” for small businesses. In its January survey, the NFIB says 89% of businesses that are hiring or trying to hire can’t find qualified applicants. “Thirty-four percent of all owners reported job openings they could not fill in the current period, up 3 points from December,” the report notes.
This gap is exactly what Facebook is trying to address with its job posting tool. The global expansion is just the latest sign of Facebook’s increasing interest in providing tools for small and local businesses. The company has also been building out ad products designed specifically for small businesses as well tools like appointment scheduling for business pages.
FACEBOOK’S FUTURE
At a time where Facebook is taking some heat, are they pivoting?
Since 2011, Facebook has invested more than $1 billion to help local businesses grow and help people find jobs” Himel writes., referencing the Community Boost program that trains businesses and job seekers to better use the Internet…including Facebook. “In 2018 we plan to invest the same amount in more teams, technology, and new programs. Because when businesses succeed, communities thrive.”
The challenge for Facebook may be convincing users that they can still be themselves on the social network. Facebook stresses that potential employers can only see what’s public on an applicant’s profile.
But some users still might be paranoid that their party pics, who they hang with or niche hobbies could scare away hirers.
About Blair
Blair Evan Ball is a Social Media Coach and founder of Prepare1, a company that works with businesses, individuals and non-profits. He is a former executive with a Fortune 50 company, and his national division did $1Billion+ in sales annually.
Blair has written three e-books: Facebook for Business Made Easy, Facebook Pages for Business Made Easy, and WordPress Blog Setup Made Easy.
Blair also educates, trains entrepreneurs and business professionals how to amplify their brand, increase revenues, and raise more funds.
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