What Does Facebook Job Search Mean For You
Facebook has recently implemented job search functionality into their platform. This functionality allows employers and potential employees to connect. How will this affect you and your business? Let’s dig in.
What Does It Mean For Your Business?
By enabling job search, Facebook has given employers access to the largest and most diverse community in the world. Up until now, employers and recruiters have used sites such as Monster.com or networks like LinkedIn to try to find new prospects. While this has worked well for years, employers have always had to be on as many channels as possible to make sure they’re reaching the correct prospects.
This is all changing with Facebooks entrance into the job search game. According to Facebook officials, the job search engine will target users that may or may not be looking for a job by flagging opportunities nearby that the user may like or support. This opens a whole new set of doors for employers to find employees by allowing them to find prospects without having to think about all the different platforms they may be on.
What Does It Mean For You Personally?
There are several different perspectives to look at this from. On the bright side, finding a job has just become easier. You can quickly search for opportunities based on the industry, job type, or location. Facebook will be able to cater results to you based on your interests and things you like to do. While competition for a job may increase, the amount of job opportunities will also increase with every business page on Facebook only being a few clicks away from becoming a new opportunity.
While making the job search process easier is great, there is one question that begs to be answered: How many times have you attached your Facebook profile to your job resume?
We’re guessing that that number is close to 0 for most of the people out there.
Facebook has been around for 13 years and it has changed a lot, much like you or anybody else in the same time span. Over the course of the 13 years’ people have used Facebook as a platform to express their thoughts and beliefs. They have used Facebook to share their life experiences and life lessons. The platform has become a living diary for many of us. But now we have to view it in a different light. Until this new feature, we’ve been able to separate our ‘work life’ and ‘home life’ easily between Facebook and other websites, but now the lines are becoming blurred.
How Do I Protect Myself?
- Watch What You Post
One thing we preach about social media here at Homesync is if you don’t want somebody to see something about you, don’t post it on social media. The best way to protect yourself is first make sure you know what you post and make sure you never post something you don’t want to eventually be seen by a potential employer. - Check Your Privacy Settings
Facebook has a very powerful set of privacy settings which allow you to control exactly what certain people can directly access on your page. We highly recommend making sure you have your privacy settings set to your liking before using the job search functionality. You can learn more about Facebooks privacy settings here (https://www.facebook.com/about/basics/usr1)
- Be Aware Of Your Surroundings
So you’ve checked your privacy settings and you feel that any post that you don’t want an employer to see is hidden from them and only visible to your friends. Unfortunately, many times this is not enough. With companies using staff members to dig through every aspect of social media, sometimes posts with the most rigorous privacy settings can still be shared through other mediums such as a screen shots or with shared accounts.
So what should I do?
Facebook job search is here to stay and we should all embrace the wonderful opportunities it presents us. Whether you’re an employer or an employee, this new feature could mean making a connection that can make your future brighter. So as long as you are careful, check your privacy settings, and understand that employers will be able to see certain aspects of your personal life, Facebook job search might be the next best thing for the job market.