After allowing professional recruiting apps such as, BranchOut, to ride a quite lucrative wave on top of their social platform, it seems that Facebook has decided to delve into the world of job search themselves. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, Facebook has plans to roll out a job postings board by the end of the summer. The “Facebook Jobs” board will pull in job listings from third party sources and create a searchable database for Facebook users to browse.
Move over LinkedIn
As a sheer numbers game, Facebook has more than a competitive edge when it comes to the massive community at their disposal. Currently, LinkedIn has 150 million active monthly visitors and Facebook boasts more than 900 million – I’ll wait while you do the math. Ready? Ok. So not only does Facebook have access to 6 times the amount of users, they also have endless amounts of social information for each of these users. They have the ability to present only relevant jobs based not only on professional and educational factors, but also on interests and preferences, maybe even hopes and dreams! For people who do not already have a LinkedIn profile, this may save them the trouble of feeling obligated to create one should they ever find themselves in search of new employment. Or will Facebook’s attempt at creating a conglomerate by forcing social and professional worlds to collide lead to a muddled grey area leaving both unsatisfied?
Not So Fast…
Because of Facebook’s colossal following, it seems that they should “have it in the bag” every time they decide to introduce us to something new, but this is not exactly the case. Unfortunately for Facebook, people have strong opinions on what they want to use their social media platforms for. After spending some time on message boards regarding this new endeavor the general consensus seems to be that people want their social lives and professional lives kept separate. Not wanting to mix business with pleasure has quite literally manifested itself online into Facebook and LinkedIn. So even though Facebook can reach all of their users with job listings, that does not mean that they want to be reached. Forcing unwanted information on people is a quick way to get people to seek a social network elsewhere. Tread lightly, Facebook.
You Be the Judge
Fortunately for all of us we have a choice. We can choose which social network to use and for what. Some may prefer to keep professional and personal lives separate, others may want to have a one-stop shop, and if Facebook can ensure that personal information will not be shared with potential employers they may just eradicate the former as a problem all together. From a marketing standpoint, it is important to remain up-to-date with who is using which platform and how they are using it so you can determine which avenue best suits your needs. Until Facebook Jobs is up and running, LinkedIn is the number one professional network and whether that will change remains to be seen. So in the mean time, make sure you’re maximizing your efforts and check out this article on 5 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do on LinkedIn.