Yes, you read that correctly. If you manage it correctly, the world’s largest network could be an ideal platform to help you find a job. In fact, just more than 18 million Americans found employment through Facebook. That’s more than the populations of Los Angeles and New York City combined.
First things first. If you are going to use Facebook to look for a job, make sure that your professional info is in your profile. And if you have a former colleague as a friend on Facebook, you can tag that person in your job history, and this will be a great first step for a referral. Also, include your educational information. Make sure that this information is consistent across all your social networks. If it isn’t, it will surely raise eyebrows for all the wrong reasons.
You are also going to have to keep your profile clean. Or at least make use of lists and privacy settings. The content that you share with your friends will obviously differ to that you’ll share with potential employers. Choose what you share publicly wisely. Potential employers are doing Google searches on job candidates and Facebook profiles usually appear on the first page of search engine results.
Put up a proper profile picture and try to keep it consistent across all your social networks. Potential employees would probably want to take a look at your Twitter and LinkedIn profiles too.
Be upbeat in your status updates. Don’t be negative about interviews you’ve been to, and face the challenge of seeking employment head on.
Follow the Facebook pages of companies you’re interested in working for. Recruiters like to see that you’re interested in their company and didn’t just look to work wherever you could find a job. The company’s Facebook page would probably also send out updates that they’re hiring and you can make the initial connection online.
Post Notes on Facebook. Notes tend to stay in friends’ feeds longer than status updates do. Keep your friends informed about your situation and let them know of the progress that you’re making. However, don’t overdo it. Friends will help out where they can, but they will also block you from their feeds if it gets too much.
Join relevant groups, just as you would on LinkedIn. Participate in those groups and share your knowledge and expertise. This will position you as an expert. And companies want to hire experts in their fields.
Find interesting articles related to the job you’re after and share the links on Facebook. It shows real interest in the job, above and beyond only showing interest in the company. Besides, you’ll learn something new in the process.
A clever idea would be to post an advertisement on Facebook. Facebook ads are pretty cheap and you only pay per click. You choose which demographics you want to target and what the maximum amount is that you’d like to spend a day.
Have you or someone you know found a job using Facebook?
I wonder how potential employers react to a Facebook profile that’s set to completely private?
Do you believe they have the right to ask to see your Facebook profile? As a general rule of thumb I don’t add people I work with to my friends list, since I see Facebook as being my private domain (as laughable as the assertion is), which is open only to me any my immediate friends. I’ll share the rare public update, but that’s pretty much it – my Facebook profile focuses on me, my hobbies and my life … and that’s it.
If my employers want to see a professional profile of mine, well, there’s LinkedIn, which I’ll happily direct them to (once I update it of course :) )
Jaydon – Employers are free to search for you on Facebook as they please. There’s nothing stopping them. If you’re going to switch your profile to completely private, that’s fine, but it may pose the question as to why it’s completely private. Do you have something to hide?
If you’re desperately looking for work, then you’ll have to compromise.
I think it’s a matter of privacy and safety; more and more people are realising that keeping their information private is a good thing. I’ve lived a life online, I’ve blogged the last decade of my life so I know what it’s like to be exposed and can appreciate privacy even more because of that. My opinion is that creating lists is a good thing and having different privacy settings for the lists is important. I think that a person, when being hired, shouldn’t need to hide their stuff from the employer, I believe in transparency in that regard, but each to their own and if a potential boss won’t hire you because he can’t see your Facebook, then that’s a boss you probably wouldn’t want to be working for anyway :)
@Alessio: my FB profile is private, but I do friend my customers. I don’t have anything to hide, but otoh, I don’t want to allow unfettered public access. Most of my updates are public.
I don’t think employers have a right to see what their employees do online in their spare time. On company time, they do. However their conduct online should not reflect badly on the company, and if the company receives complaints about their employees abusing the Internet in their private time, it should be investigated.
For example, I posted on a news24 forum that I supported Malema (which I do, to a degree). Now, most people hate Malema, but I’m entitled to my opinion. I didn’t start an argument or abuse anyone. I just stated my own political opinion. For doing that, I got hate messages sent to my Facebook account. These messages were just filled with abuse. I managed to identify some of the people sending these messages. One of them was a soccer coach associated with a local soccer club. So I wrote to the club about this guy’s conduct. They didn’t do anything about their coach, but other companies might. I wouldn’t want to employ someone who used the Internet to send random abuse messages because they didn’t like someone’s expressed opinions online.