LinkedIn can relax about Facebook Jobs (at least, for now)

LinkedIn can relax about Facebook Jobs (at least, for now) 

There has been a lot of controversy over the new jobs on Facebook initiative and how it will seriously impede LinkedIn's recruiting business. To which I would say, umm... no it won't. At least, not anytime soon. With all of its ease of use and audience size, Facebook still has some major hurdles to conquer before displacing LinkedIn. If you would indulge me, step into my mind as I ruminate Facebook jobs and its pending impact on the recruitment industry. 

Wow! Facebook Jobs in super-easy to use. I was able to post a fake job in moments. Let's do a bit of tour. 

Before you can use Facebook Jobs (Or rather, "Jobs on Facebook." I get the wording confused at times, but you know what I mean. Right?), you need to have a Facebook page. No biggie, as they are free to set up.

Jobs posted on Facebook are connected to a Facebook page. This is mine below. (By the way, feel free to like it.) Immediately, I notice the banner advert at the top enticing me to post a job opening. (See arrow A) If I somehow missed that banner advert, I could always click the "Jobs" link. (See arrow B)

This is what the job posting form looks like. Facebook shows you how it will look on the desktop (A) and on mobile (B). 

Once I'm done filling out the form, I click the "Publish Job Post" button. (see arrow) 

Soon as I post it, I find out that there is a quality control component. Facebook wants to make sure I am posting a real job and not umm.. a fake one? 

Moments after my job is in queue to be approved, I get a Facebook notification that I have an option to boost my post. Makes sense. Unless people are on my page, its not highly likely that my post will appear in a news feed as it competes with all the other pages and profiles a Facebook user sees in their newsfeed. So, I fill out criteria like job titles, location, education and such, which helps me refine who will see this job advert after I pay to boost it. In my case, I am looking for a video blogger in Atlanta. I want my advert to post for 7 days. The end result, I reach 8,400 people for $5.00 a day. Not bad. 

Now, the flip side, what if I wanted to find a job as a blogger? I go to the Jobs on Facebook page and search on the word "blogger" to see what is within 40 miles of my city. Lookee here! "PuffCuff" is looking for experienced bloggers. I click the "Apply Now" button. (See arrow)

I am taken to the PuffCuff Hair Clamp page where I can read more about the job and officially apply. I click the big blue "Apply Now" button. 

Facebook takes data from my Facebook profile page and automatically fills the apply page. Convenient! I add in my pitch for why I should be considered for the role, then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the "Send' button. My application will be sent to them like a Facebook message and not appear on my profile which is good for jobseekers who want to be discreet. 

I return to the Jobs on Facebook page to do a bit more searching. 

What I liked:

# Easy to search by industry category, location and job type. 

# I like that its free. 

# Umm... That's it. 

What I did not like:

# I could only perform the simplest of searches. 

# When results were returned, I had to do a bunch of scrolling before settling on something that looked interesting. 

# No job alerts to keep track of new jobs entering the system. 

# No refinements for salary preferences. 

But... Maybe its just me? I wondered what other people were saying, so I looked around and a couple of blog posts stood out to me. I bulletined some of the more notable quotes. 

Facebook Jobs Is Easy To Use But Will It Replace LinkedIn? 

• While it was easy to use, Beth Lawton, 37, owner of Canoe Media Services, says she found the broad search parameters frustrating. “It seems like eventually I’d have to do a lot of scrolling through irrelevant listings before finding something I'd apply for,” she says. 
• Jonathan Duarte, CEO and cofounder of GoHire, Inc., says he knows of three companies that recently posted jobs and even spent $100 to boost the visibility of their posts yet they only received messages from three or fewer applicants. “An equivalent spend on Indeed or craigslist, or another pay-for-click job board, would have resulted in over 100 responses,” he says.
• “It looks good for part-time or non-professional jobs. I don't think it will replace LinkedIn for professional jobs but may replace craigslist and it was free.”

Facebook Users Debate the Social Network's New Job Postings 

• These Facebook users say they keep their most-recent work affiliations updated on LinkedIn, the business-focused social network now owned by Microsoft, and most said they are careful to maintain that separation of their personal and work personas.
• A few also cited the increasingly polarized political situation in the United States as one reason they do so. (If you rant about one candidate or another on Facebook, now you could end up alienating a prospective employer.)
• "I think it's a bad step. Facebook has already lost a lot of younger users and a lot of engineers. I have hated the increased social chatter on LinkedIn, which is strictly business for me," she notes.
• "It may be easier to reach developers on Facebook than on LinkedIn," she says, explaining that while LinkedIn is great for filling non-technical positions, it is not always effective in finding software developers and engineers.
• Paul Santinelli, a partner at venture capital firm North Bridge Venture Partners, is also open to the new jobs posting. "The number one priority of recruiting is prospect reach. Number two is relationships with prospects within that reach so Facebook seems like a logical place to recruit," Santinelli says, via email. "Now, what types of jobs? I wouldn't use it for executive recruiting, but for skilled workers? Sure."

So, I was glad to have some of my concerns validated. Yay! But I had a few more to point out.

• I like that the job appears like a post on a Facebook page, but that tells me that it will compete with all the other posts out there. If my Facebook page does not have a vibrant community, will anyone notice my post? 
• I am concerned that overzealous recruiters may post too many jobs to the Facebook page and thereby, causing subscribers to opt out of following the page. (That would be bad.)
• As a subscriber to the Facebook page, I will see all the jobs in the newsfeed. If I am an accountant, I would not want to see techie jobs or sales jobs or any other opportunity that was not financially related. 
• How long will it be until someone tries to sue a company for not hiring them because of something seen on Facebook? I can hear it now, "I know you checked out my profile because I only applied for the job on Facebook. I'm perfect for the job, why didn't you hire me? Is it because of my religion? Sexual preference? Political affiliation? My...(fill in the blank). I hate you! I'm going to sue!!!"
• If you post jobs on Craig's List, this is another (free) alternative for you. 

But, I digress. If I were Facebook, I would...

• Create an entirely new jobs website that was "powered by Facebook." When someone applies, their Facebook data is added to the job application automatically and communications are facilitated by Facebook Messenger. However, you would not be able to click a person's name and go to their Facebook profile. 
• Creating a new website would still get you the data you want for more targeted ads, so nothing would be lost by doing this. 
• In the interim, I would post a pop-up for the applicant to see that says something like, "Before applying for this job, have you checked your privacy settings? Click here to see how your Facebook profile appears to the public" I would not make it a consistent pop-up, just once when they apply for a job for the first time. After that, they were warned. 

If I were Linkedin, I would...

• Play on the concerns that Facebook users have about recruiters looking over their Facebook profiles. Commission an ad campaign that stresses how your professional online life and personal online life are best kept separate. 
• I would also do what I could to make LinkedIn less like Facebook and more like a corporate site so the users stay in business-mode. (Too much non-business being shared there in my opinion.) 

So, would I recruit talent via Jobs on Facebook? Umm... Maybe. 

• I think user adoption of this option will be slow because of privacy concerns. That being said, Facebook has over a billion users so even slow adoption can generate some good exposure. The fact that its free, does not hurt anything either. 
• BEFORE POSTING JOBS I think companies should post a disclaimer on their Facebook page that says, "We are using Facebook to advertise jobs and communicate with applicants. It is not our policy to review the personal profiles of applicants and use those profiles as a point of disqualification." (Hopefully, that is enough to keep lawsuits away. I am NOT a lawyer, so take that for what its worth.) 
• I think recruiters should post jobs SPARINGLY on Jobs on Facebook and not treat the option like a job board because that will cause an exodus of followers. 
• I would experiment first with high-volume jobs in retail or call center or any other job where only a high school degree or "some college" is a requirement because these candidates tend not to be on LinkedIn. (Click here to see what I mean.) 

To recap, (1) Jobs on Facebook is easy to use, (2) LinkedIn should not be overly concerned at this writing and (3) experiment with Jobs on Facebook for high-volume jobs but be careful to protect yourself with a disclaimer. Make sense? 

But this is just one guy's opinion. What's yours? Let me know in the comments below. 

Jim