Businesses might soon be updating job listings with a quick post on Facebook, with the social network this week revealing it will be adding a job ad feature to its service.
Rolling out across the US initially, Facebook’s jobs function will let businesses of all sizes that have a Facebook page post job ads and promote them to their followers.
Facebook said in a blog post the new feature makes sense, as “businesses and people already use Facebook to fill and find jobs”.
“We know that finding the right talent can be a challenge. Forty percent of US small businesses report that filling jobs was more difficult than they expected,” Facebook said in the post.
Businesses will be presented the option of posting a job listing in the same way they would post any Facebook update, filling in options like job title, image, salary, and if the job is full time or part time.
The job will then appear in followers’ News Feeds, as well as on a “Jobs” tab on the Facebook page of the business. Hopeful job seekers will also be able to find the listing at a dedicated “jobs centre”.
After the job has been posted, applicants can apply using their Facebook profile, and details in the application will be automatically filled from their profile details.
Once a business has found an applicant they like the look of, Facebook allows it to contact the applicant via Messenger or over mobile.
Facebook has tested the service already across parts of the US and says results for small businesses are already looking positive.
“It was great because it was easy. It took three minutes to fill out the information and put it out there. Then someone saw the post, we talked, and it was done,” Wendy Grahn, co-owner of Chicago-based Lakeview Kitchen and Market told Facebook.
However, it’s not known how long it will take for Facebook to introduce the features in Australia.
Until then, getting a job ad out there can be a difficult thing, and Danielle Stone, senior HR manager at HR Staff ‘n Stuff believes getting job ads noticed is “really hard” for SMEs.
“The cost to a business to put a job on somewhere like SEEK can be a big capital outlay with potentially no result,” Stone tells SmartCompany.
“And if you have to repost it multiple times it can cost even more.”
Stone believes SMEs looking for applicants have to push job ads out across multiple channels and even try some non-conventional targeted approaches.
“It has to be on multiple channels now, you can’t afford to put all your eggs in one basket. You need to go down multiple avenues like Facebook, Twitter, SEEK, and even local job boards.”
Stone advises local job boards on Facebook can be a great way to recruit workers, noting the shareable nature of the content is an advantage to getting the ad out there.
For more “blue collar” jobs, such as skilled or unskilled labourers, Stone advises free job boards like Indeed. For other types of position, calling industry leaders or connections and asking for recommendations can also work wonders, Stone says.
As for Facebook’s new feature, Stone believes it will be “interesting”, and says smart businesses and recruiters will be on it quickly.
“It could be hit or miss, but proactive and forward-thinking recruiters will be all over it,” Stone says.
“Applicants might be worried about recruiters looking at their Facebook profiles, but the truth is they already do that anyway.”
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