Instead of posting another cat photo, Facebook could be the way you find your next gig.
The next time you’re surfing Facebook, you may want to spruce up your profile in the spirit of landing a new job. Work4 Labs, a software company developing Facebook recruiting applications, has launched a Graph Search tool for recruiters. And if its CEO has his say, it will apparently give other social networks stiff competition.
According to Work4 CEO Stephane Le Viet, “LinkedIn covers a slice of the market that’s very valuable, but it doesn’t cover everything,” he says.
Taking retail, hospitality, health care and other industries into account, their workers may not lean on an online professional network to propel their careers.
“They don’t carry around business cards [and] they don’t use their professional network to enhance what they’re doing at work. But pretty much all of them have a profile on a social network, and for the majority of them that’s Facebook.”
Le Viet points out that users also have friends online, thereby building a robust referral network. “Recruiting has always been about fishing where the fish are,” he says. If you’re among the 1.15 billion monthly active users on Facebook, then you’re swimming in an abundant school of fish that employers are tapping into.
The latest product to emerge from the San Francisco-based company is a tool that uses Facebook’s graph search function to connect job searchers with possible employers.
Launched earlier this month, it allows companies with subscriptions ($1,500 annually per recruiter) to click on a job in their interface and message candidates. “Let’s say you’re searching for a developer at Google: You click on the job on a developer position that’s in our interface, you say, ‘Show me the candidates’ and it shows you the candidates automatically.”
Although it’s too soon for clients like Pepsi and Groupon to report hires, the new tool allows recruiters to go “above and beyond the résumé.” For example, talent acquisition folks looking for a cultural fit can drill into candidates’ interests.
Le Viet points out that “for a company like the Gap, they’re hiring a lot in stores around the world. They want people who like fashion; they don’t want people in the stores who hate clothes. You want people who will have some type of affinity to your brand or to brands [that] are similar. Facebook allows you to do that, so if you’re a fan of Banana Republic, they’re interested in you because they’re in the same ecosystem.”
Given this new era of hiring, what does it mean for the résumé? “Résumés are being overtaken by social profiles and your social footprint. I think people will get more and more educated and make sure that everything they display in a public manner is clean.”
Le Viet’s tips for Facebookers looking to get a gig with Work4:
Review your public profile
“Make sure you’re comfortable with it. Don’t look at it in the perspective of only removing content.”
Add information
“This will make you findable. This will also make your public profile look richer. Add where you studied and your major, where you work and past work experiences.”
Add special skills
“It’s something where you can say, ‘I’m an expert in marketing’ or ‘I have a professional skill in accounting’ so people can find you better.”
