Written by Dave Cullen
Social media websites are changing the game when it comes to finding employment. LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and countless other mass media communication platforms have all become indispensable networking tools for the modern jobseeker. We have previously discussed how LinkedIn has revolutionised the way professionals can showcase their skills and experience, now it’s time to explore the job-finding capabilities of the world’s most popular website, Facebook.
Finding a job has always been about successful career networking and no other website allows users to cultivate and develop a network like Facebook.
Clean up your personal profile or create a new one
If you wish to continue to use your own personal Facebook account be sure to purge it of any untoward or compromising photos and status updates. More and more employers are screening the social networking accounts of prospective candidates and will likely frown upon inappropriate images of you. Alternatively you could setup a new Facebook account specifically for business purposes.
Tell your friends on Facebook you are looking for work
Facebook is a great way to stay in touch with friends, family, work colleagues and old school mates. This means you have a dynamic and readymade network full of people who might be able to help you with your job search. Liaise with the people you are connected with and let them know you are seeking new employment opportunities. Post messages asking if anyone has heard of a job opening in your target industry. As with all successful networking campaigns, be sure to return the favour when others ask for your help. Networking should be a mutually beneficial process and by giving back as much assistance as you receive you will increase your networks’ core value.
Use a job search app like BranchOut 
Think of BranchOut as a kind of mini LinkedIn app for Facebook. Advertised as being the “largest professional network on Facebook”, it allows you to search for specific jobs and then find out how your friends are connected to that role or company. You may discover that one of your BranchOut connections has a Facebook friend working within the company you are interested in; perhaps they may know the hiring manager. Similarly to our blog about finding a job through LinkedIn, social media networking is about finding out how many levels of separation exist between you and the person you need to reach.
Communicate with the Company’s Facebook Page
Be sure to ‘like’ and subscribe to the Facebook page of the company or companies you would like to work with. This is an excellent strategy for creating a dialogue with your potential future employer. Interact with them by commenting on their status updates and providing your feedback on their posts. By becoming a frequent contributor to their content, the company will begin to value your opinion and a potential relationship may develop. At some point you may become familiar with members of their marketing department; from here a direct line of communication with their hiring manager could emerge.
By understanding how career networking strategies can be translated to the online world, you can learn to unleash Facebook as a potent weapon in your job seeking arsenal. There are no exact guidelines about how to use social networking as a means of finding employment. The entire process is about attempting to engineer creative ways to develop rapport with a recruiter or employer.
If you have used Facebook as a means of finding employment recently please comment below, we’d love to hear your online job seeking success story.
