The Social Media Universe expands to include Facebook Social Jobs

Jeffrey Young | @jeffrey_young09 Social media is more than just fun now.  It's a way to do business, find jobs, and network. And while it's true that you probably do a lot more networking now with these new communication tools at your disposal than you did before they existed, social media is proving to be a great resource – not only for catching up with old friends and chatting, but also for doing business and growing your customer base.

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With all this growth in social media, sites like Facebook and LinkedIn are beginning to compete for shares of the market. While it’s true that your company may have social media pages on various sites, and probably should, companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are all competing for mindshare.  Facebook wants you to make a mental association with them whenever you see "social media," as do Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and the countless other social media sites are out there. Some sites, like LinkedIn, have a specialty that they're also known for. In LinkedIn's case, it's networking. However, social media sites add new features regularly, blurring the lines between these various sites specialties.

Every social media site has its specialty and caters to different groups of people.  Facebook is mainly used by people aged 18 to 24 and LinkedIn is mainly used by ages 25 to 34.  It’s a logical breakdown since people usually finish their bachelors around age 22 and graduate school a couple years later.  After all that time in school, people want to build their professional network and start a career, which is where LinkedIn makes its grand entrance.  LinkedIn is widely known for being a site where professionals can network, and very few social sites are that intensely focused on that one particular area of social networking like LinkedIn is.

The Ever-Expanding Facebook Universe

Facebook launched Social Jobs in 2012 to pair job seekers with those who hire.  The “Social Jobs Partnership” fan page provides job seekers with career resources, department of labor statistics, and jobs that have become recently available.

Facebook’s Social Jobs aggregates jobs from sites such as Monster and Branch Out to provide job seekers with an efficient way to browse available job listings their interested in.  One unique feature that’s in some of these job applications is the optional ability to link your Facebook and LinkedIn profiles to your application.

How do you apply for these jobs, you might ask? 

Facebook has linked up to jobs in several different ways.  I’ve observed three so far, but there may be more.

1)   The job links directly to one of the company’s apps (Branch Out, for example).

2)   The job links directly to a website.

3)   Clicking the job link automatically opens your email client, allowing you to contact the hiring manager directly.

The Social Twist – Facebook’s unique features.

1)   The optional ability to link your Facebook and LinkedIn profiles to your application.

2)   Option to “Like” a job posting.

3)   Option to “Share” a job posting with a friend.

Do you think Facebook will disrupt LinkedIn’s stronghold on professional networking?

 

Sources:

http://adage.com/article/adagestat/demographics-facebook-linkedin-myspace-twitter/227569/

http://www.brittanyvolk.com/typography/disruption.jpg

Jeffrey Young