4 Ways to Make the Most of Facebook's Job Posting Feature

Welcome to Recruiter QA, where we pose employment-related questions to the experts and share their answers! Have a question you'd like to ask? Leave it in the comments, and you might just see it in the next installment of Recruiter QA!

Today's Question: As you've probably heard by now, Facebook is rolling out a new job posting function. We asked a few experts for their thoughts on how employers, recruiters, and job seekers can all make the most of it!

1. Job Seekers, Keep Your Profiles Private

Facebook will now pre-fill the applicant's name and profile picture, which will speed up the process significantly. However, users will now have to ensure that their profiles are not too personal, as recruiters and employers will now have access to them. It is highly recommended for applicants to not keep their profiles public. This way, users share only those details with the company they are comfortable sharing.

— Dushyant Bhatia, DigitalWatchers

2. Use Demographic Data to Target Job Ads More Effectively

When it comes to finding, hiring, and keeping good employees, the new jobs feature on Facebook is a perfect opportunity. This feature will make the hiring landscape more competitive, for both recruiters and candidates, as the pool of talent will vastly increase. Employers and recruiters will become more selective as they have a bigger pond to fish from, and candidates will have more to prove in order to stand out enough to be interviewed or accepted for a position.

Most Facebook profiles are filled with important demographic information like age, past job titles, employer information, educational background, and even interests. This will be key for employers as they target their job ads in order to reach the candidates with the proper credentials. Social media and the job market have been on course to meet up for a long time, and now it's finally here. If you're not using these features yet, now is the time to start.

– Casey Tongg, CFR Rinkens

3. Go Viral

So far, we've had success in reaching great candidates who wouldn't normally find us on LinkedIn or other job board sites. We've traditionally used LinkedIn to hire for more qualified positions that come with a college degree and experience. Facebook has allowed us to reach a wide audience of potential hourly associates seeking positions in the service industry. In terms of usability and setup, we've had no issues. It's really just a matter of posting a job opening through the status update composer of our business pages and then hosting them on a separate jobs tab. I imagine that candidates find it easy to use as well, considering much of their information is pre-populated when they're applying.

If you want to cast your net further, try turning your job posts into ads so they reach a greater amount of people in the newsfeed. Also, encourage your current employees to share your job posts with all of their friends or tag people who are looking for a job. This can create a viral post as more and more people share it.

— Tanner St. James, The Scott Resort ">

4. Make Your Posts Media-Rich and Mobile-Friendly

Keep in mind that more than half of Facebook viewing is done on a mobile phone. Ensure your post is mobile-friendly. Also, posts with images get twice the level of engagement, so consider adding a photo of your staff or headquarters for increased visibility.

— Bradley Shaw, SEO Expert Brad