Finding a Job on Facebook

When it comes to professionals on social media, the first thing that pops into your head is probably LinkedIn.

But while LinkedIn may be the largest online network for individuals specifically working on their careers, there is another very well known platform that can make a huge difference in your career:

Facebook.

In fact, several years ago Facebook released a feature specifically for posting and hosting job applications, effectively making their platform one of the largest job marketplaces in the world!

As a job seeker, there are several factors that contribute to your effective use of Facebook for finding a job — and we have six of them to share with you today!

1. Keep it clean

If you’re looking to launch your career through your Facebook profile, then first things first: you need to make your profile professional.

Just like one of the first things you need to do with finding a job is cleaning up your resume, you should clean up your profile to make it presentable to recruiters.

You should ensure you hide or remove any less-than-professional posts or comments you may have made. That means anything that doesn’t paint the perfect picture should go.

This could be controversial topics, bad-mouthing and negativity towards other businesses, or anything that makes you seem like you might not share the same values as your potential employers.

2. Set up your security settings

Your privacy controls are important for making sure employers can only see what you want them to see.

You don’t always have to remove your old content, as we mentioned in the last section, as long as you ensure they’re only shared with the right people.

In fact, Facebook allows you to customize lists of exactly who can see each post you’ve made. That way you can decide what’s public, and what’s private to certain friends or family.

Likewise, you can curate the content that stays publicly visible. Have any achievements or accreditations that you’re particularly proud of? Perhaps courses you’ve graduated from or certificates you have received? Be sure to leave posts about them available to keep your recruiters informed about them!

3. If you don’t have anything good to say…

Then maybe you shouldn’t say anything at all.

If you’re considering complaining about your current or past jobs online, take a second and consider how that might affect your NEXT job!

As an employee anywhere, you’re expected to help further the brand’s image in the world. And if a recruiter sees that you’ve posted disparaging comments about other brands you’ve represented, they may just consider you a liability, were you to join theirs.

Not only that, but if your current coworkers see you airing your grievances in public, it could also affect the climate at your current job…

4. Look THEM up, too!

Facebook isn’t a two-way mirror where only you can be seen.

It’s also a great tool for researching the companies that might interest you!

Be mindful that a company’s brand persona and advertising might not give you an accurate understanding of what working with them is like, but it will help you get a bigger picture.

You can discover other things too, like what their customers are saying about them online, and what types of reviews they receive. This can help you decide if their company culture is something you’d be a good fit for or not, and save you the trouble of figuring that out AFTER you’ve taken the job.

5. Don’t take things at face(book) value

Like any job market, there will be scammers and schemers looking to take advantage of you.

You need to think objectively about whether an opportunity is true, or simply too-good-to-be-true.

Some red flags are:

They want you to pay to apply
The job is low effort + high pay
They offer alternative payments besides hourly/salary
Their company page is new and/or empty
Extremely broken English
Recruiters are pitchy/demanding (good employers don’t need to be desperate)

META can help you with your digital literacy skills! We can show you how to use popular online tools that are in-demand by employers, as well as how to safely navigate the online job marketplace (including on Facebook). And it’s completely free — talk to us today to learn more!

6. Slow and steady doesn’t always win the race

Because of the vast number of opportunities available on Facebook, trying to stay on top of them all can really slow down your search.

And since most great opportunities are popular, it’s important to streamline your search so you can stay ahead of the pack!

Start by narrowing down your focus to a certain industry, or even a certain few employers that interest you. Be sure to follow them and stay up-to-date on the latest job postings.

And speed is also about momentum — keep applying to jobs regularly, and keep your resume ready to go at a moment’s notice when an exciting new job opens up! We suggest tracking your applications in a spreadsheet too, so you don’t get tangled up trying to track down information as you go. This should keep things moving quickly and smoothly!

Conclusion

Facebook can be an important part of your job search, just like having the right employment services at your disposal!

So for assistance with job searching online (and offline) we recommend reaching out to META today!

Finding a Job on Facebook