Facebook Jobs, the latest update by Facebook, allows local businesses to post, open jobs and passively look for suitable candidates. The feature also allows candidates to apply for these jobs. Businesses can now use their company Facebook pages to post job openings and communicate with applicants through Facebook Messenger.
LinkedIn Jobs, is a more robust platform and it still offers more options and features than Facebook Jobs. Although LinkedIn was launched in 2005, given Facebook’s much larger user base, which can populate its job and candidate pools, it might not be long before Facebook becomes a formidable competitor to LinkedIn.
Facebook provides a more laser-like focus on local jobs. For free, a job-seeker can set a two- to hundred-mile radius parameter of where they want to work. This is a powerful tool made very accessible to a large audience. LinkedIn on the other hand, only allows a few choices in multiples of five miles for a search. Also, many jobs are entry-level and part-time roles in digital media, recruiting, personal care services, retail, outdoor and recreation industries. Given the smaller pool of candidates on Facebook Jobs for these positions, job-seekers applying to these openings will find themselves in a relatively smaller pool of considered candidates. This increases the likelihood they’ll get hired.
Then, there are fewer jobs at the executive level listed compared to the executive job listings on LinkedIn Jobs. Note that this con can also inadvertently be a pro, since those early adopter executives that find a relevant executive job posting on Facebook Jobs will find themselves among fewer competitors, because fewer candidates look at Facebook Jobs at this point compared to LinkedIn Jobs. Many people also use Facebook for personal use. If a job-seeker chooses to use Facebook Jobs to look for positions, then the user’s profile needs to look professional to compete in this business context. A meld of personal and business personas is a con for many job-seekers.
The suggested jobs are offered based on the content of your profile on LinkedIn. You can set preferences for the types of jobs you want suggested to you based on location, experience level, experience type (profession), industry, and company size. This is perhaps why the competition is fierce on LinkedIn Jobs. While Facebook has many more monthly users than LinkedIn, LinkedIn Jobs has more activity than Facebook Jobs. This means a job-seeker will face more competition on LinkedIn Jobs.
Another advantage LinkedIn has is that you can research salaries for the positions in the locations you are targeting. This function (which you can find here) is extremely helpful for job-seekers to educate themselves on what the marketplace dictates for their skills. Finally, the Job alerts. Job-seekers can create a Job Search Alert, where they’re notified of newly posted roles that meet their search criteria.
Which site is better to use to find your dream job: Facebook or LinkedIn? The answer is “it depends.” If you’re looking for entry-level jobs in specific industries, Facebook Jobs could be the better option to start a search. However, if you’re looking for more experienced positions, then LinkedIn Jobs will have many more postings. Though, keep in mind that executive job-seekers can find themselves in a much smaller pool of candidates for consideration through Facebook Jobs. But you shouldn’t rule out either site entirely. It’s best to use both, and use them often, to determine which one is best for your specific needs.
Originally published on Vault
