Is Facebook the New LinkedIn?

While many associate Linkedin with job hunting, Facebook recently geared towards using its platform for employment.

Why this change? Andrew Bosworth (Facebook’s VP of ads), said, “their team noticed that businesses were already posting about job openings on their pages and decided to build tools for employment”. Also, a survey authorized by Facebook, found that the biggest problem for small businesses is hiring. They saw an opportunity and took it. By offering tools for employment, Facebook has attracted new clientele and sparked interest in customers that already use the social media platform. Most importantly, this helps generate more income via advertising; the bread and butter of Facebook. It’s extremely straightforward and easy to post job listings.

Why use Facebook to find employment?

It’s one of the largest platforms for networking; 1.15 billion users actively use Facebook daily, take a second to digest that number (Zephoria, 2017). Here are some key tips to finding jobs via Facebook:

1. Complete your profile– According to Linkedin, in 2015, only half of its users completed profile. Why does this matter? Filling all fields significantly increases chance for employment. Linkedin reported, “users with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities” (Linkedinsights, 2015).
2. Classify your contacts by labelling them according to professionals and friends. Why? This helps target the intended audience. Ie. Under settings, change who is able to view work related statuses.
3. Follow companies of interest & join groups: View relevant news and participate in intellectual discussion to gain understanding for what the company is looking for in an applicant to increase professional engagement and in turn, get noticed.
   
4. Selectively use Facebook for the purpose of job hunting rather than a social platform by avoiding to post irrelevant content such as getting drunk at a bar.
   
5. Network, network, network! Reach out to contacts because the key is in networking. Did you know, 85% of jobs are filled through networking?

Please note: this feature is only available in Canada and the United States. To view this tab, go to Explore on the left hand side and click on jobs.