Facebook’s Job Board Ushers in a New Era of Job Recruiting Online

On Feb. 16 Facebook debuted its long-awaited job board, a recruiting feature that leverages social media to connect great jobs with great candidates.

Through the new job board, companies can publish a job posting to Facebook's News Feed from their business page as easily as they would any other update. They can also pay Facebook to promote their job listings to a wider audience.

Facebook users in turn can search their News Feed and apply for jobs directly from the social network's website and mobile app. The new posting feature provides yet another reason for people to "like" pages from brands and companies they're interested in, especially if they're looking for a job.

“This new experience will help businesses find qualified people where they’re already spending their time — on Facebook and on mobile,” wrote the social network in a bog post announcing the availability of the job board.

Your Next Job Offer, Employee Could Come from Your Newsfeed.

Facebook's new job board allows you to search for available jobs on the platform by location, industry and skill under a new "jobs" section.

You can also apply to jobs directly in the News Feed, as well as on the mobile app; and share the jobs to your social network.  

Facebook will send job notifications via messages to users’ pages, meaning you now have to check your page messages.

“We’ve tested the new jobs experience in parts of the US, and while it’s still early, businesses are already filling roles,” added the giant social network.

Facebook Set to Disrupt the Recruiting Industry

Although a spokesperson for the social networking company insisted that the job board does not mean Facebook is entering the recruiting industry, it seems obvious that the job board is a game changer in the industry given the sheer size of Facebook and potential for recruiting over the platform.

As of the third quarter of 2016, Facebook with its mission of “connecting the world” was fast approaching 2 billion active monthly users. “Facebook is launching a jobs page within Facebook,” said Stephane Le Viet, founder and CEO of Work4 Labs. “This is a very big disruption in a very large space.”

For now, businesses can post an opening on Facebook’s job board for free. That is good news for employers and job prospects, but not thrilling news for existing job platforms like LinkedIn, CareerBuilder and SimplyHired. On most of these other job platforms listing carries a price tag.

Facebook Job Board Takes on LinkedIn

LinkedIn, the hitherto leader in the employment social network space, may be hit especially hard by Facebook’s new job board because it seems to have neglected lower-skilled workers.

The “professional social network” has become a destination for purposeful job seekers looking for medium- and high-skilled roles. But for people seeking hourly or part-time jobs, LinkedIn’s focus on your resume and education is seen to discourage many low skilled workers from signing up to the platform.

Facebook is set to capitalize on this shortcoming of LinkedIn by going further with its new online recruiting service to also help lower-skilled workers and people who aren’t actively looking for a job easily find a job.

Generally, when Facebook releases a new service or product feature, it prioritizes the offering in its algorithm that determines what people see on the News Feed. This means now is a good time to jump on this job board tool quickly to benefit the most.

Facebook's job board is currently rolling out to all U.S. and Canada business Pages, with the functionality expected to extend to other parts of the world later.

See Also: Facebook User Engagement, Posting Behavior Declining, Report Finds.