Facebook Jobs for Employers

You’re generally encouraged to keep your Facebook life separate from your work life. But Facebook is looking to blur those lines with their new Jobs feature. They tout the ease of use as a benefit for both employers and potential employees, but is it really? In this two part series, we’ll explore how the Facebook Jobs process works on the employer side, the employee side, and whether it is a good fit for you.

Today we’ll start with the employer side.

Check out part two, focusing on the Employee side of Facebook Jobs.

How Facebook Jobs Works for Employers

Taking the new function for a spin? Here is how you post a job on Facebook:

+Visit the jobs section of Facebook, or, on your business’s page, select the Jobs tab in the left-hand column.
+Once there, select Create/Post Job
+The options offered to you are straight forward:
–Intro – appears as the basic text area of a Facebook post)
–Photo – you have the option to use your page’s cover photo or upload a new one
–Job Title
–Location – This will defaults to your page’s location setting if you have one
–Salary – This is optional, and can be set as per hour, per day, per week, per month, or per year
–Job Type – Full time, part time, Internship, Volunteer, Contract
–Details – up to a 5,000 word job description

And that’s it! You have now published a job post.

Any applications will be sent to your Facebook page in the form of a message, so make sure that you have someone regularly monitoring the messages, or have a notification system set up.

Pros:

Simplicity – It is incredibly easy to post a job. If you already have the job details laid out, with a few copy-pastes and a click and the job is posted.

Free – It is (currently) free to post a job on Facebook, unlike LinkedIn and many other job posting sites. You’ll need to pay to advertise and share the job (more on that later), but posting the job itself on your page and to your followers is free.

Reach – Facebook has a greater reach than LinkedIn. At the end of 2016, Facebook had 1.86 billion monthly active users. LinkedIn has 450 million users total, with only 106 million monthly active users. On top of that, people tend to only go on LinkedIn when they’re actively searching for a job. Posting a job on Facebook allows employers to reach people who may be open to a new job, but are not actively searching.

Targeting – Facebook’s more advanced targeting options allow you to better reach people that fit within your company, rather than targeting based on a specific skill set/current job titles or industry. LinkedIn has very rigid advertising options, whereas Facebook’s allow for a lot more customization.

Cons:

Simplicity – There are currently no customization options for the actual application. The simplicity makes the process quick and easy, but you give up some level of control to accomplish that. Applicants aren’t even able to attach a resume.

Delivery – The application comes through in the form of Facebook message, which means someone will need to be monitoring your Facebook pages messages.

Automation – The application process (currently) does not link with the your CRM software. This means no automation options – thank you for applying messages, automatically notifying HR that a job application has been submitted, etc, so a manual element is required.

Does this mean businesses should dive in and start using Facebook Jobs as your sole source of posting? Or should companies avoid this process with a 10-foot pole?

Neither.

That may seem like a copout, but it is true. There is no universal solution that works perfectly for every business’s needs, and you’ll need to compare your business needs to what this new platform has to offer and see if there is a match. Here are some things to consider as you review whether this is a good option for your company.

Typical Applicant Pool 

How many applications do you typically receive on a job post? If you receive a small handful, then sorting through a few Facebook messages may not be too time-consuming. But if you typically receive hundreds of applicants, sorting through messages may not work for you.

Your Current Job Application Process

Consider the work it would to keep track of the Facebook job applications and merge them with your current process. Do candidates need to fill out a profile, complete forms with their relevant work experience, attach a resume and cover letter, or answer specific questions? Do you have a database full of applicants with automations set up to send thank you emails, notify certain people within your organization, and carefully tracked applicant profiles to guide them through your system? The manual element required of the Facebook Jobs process may not fit well with your current process.

But if you aren’t a large company with these things in place, or if you’re a business that has a stack of resumes in a drawer somewhere, then the manual requirements may not require a lot of extra work. The simplicity of the Facebook application form may mesh well with your current process, and it may be a great resource.

Type of Jobs 

What type of jobs are you trying to fill? I get the feeling you aren’t going to find your next CTO on Facebook (I look forward to the idea of being proven wrong!), but it seems plausible to find a more entry-level or retail-based position.

What’s the takeaway from all this? The Facebook Jobs feature has a lot of opportunity. In its current state, Facebook is not going to be a one-stop job center. The potential is there, and I think this could be a great option for local businesses that might not be able to compete for visibility on LinkedIn or other job posting sites. But what about for bigger companies? It’s an interesting tool, and there may be more features rolled in the future that address certain concerns. Facebook reaches a lot of people – this could be a great tool to use for job posting visibility, and as a way to get the job out there. List the job on your Facebook page, but encourage users to visit the website listing and apply there. I recommend you take a look and figure out if Facebook Jobs could work for you.

Be sure to check out part two, where we explore the Employee side of Facebook Jobs!

What do you think about the new Facebook Jobs feature? Is LinkedIn doomed? Let us know in the comments below!

Angie Goldman
Marketing Analyst

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