14 DAY TRIAL // Facebook is once more taking on LinkedIn by introducing a new way for businesses to find potential employees by posting job openings.
At first, according to Facebook, this change will affect businesses in the United States and Canada. They will all be able to post job openings, while future employees can easily find those posts on their official pages or in the new jobs bookmark they created.
"This new experience will help businesses find qualified people where they're already spending their time - on Facebook and on mobile," the company said.
Page admins can create job posts, track applications, and even communicate directly with applicants via Messenger. These new posts will work just like any other posts and can receive boosters to reach more audiences.
The testing phase seems to have worked just fine with one employer finding someone new to hire in a very short time.
What to look for
Job posts will appear in people's News Feeds, as well as in the new bookmark for jobs, and alongside other posts on business pages. When applying for a job, the form is already filled out with personal information from their Facebook profile, which they can edit before submitting.
This is a great addition to Facebook, but it does bring the question of how much people are willing to mix their personal lives with their professional ones. Connecting to a new employer via Facebook can lead them to see posts and pictures and other things that you may not want them to see, which is why LinkedIn is still in business after so many years - having the alternative of presenting yourself professionally to potential employers.
While it's true, as Facebook points out, that businesses and people already use Facebook to fill and find jobs, it remains to be seen whether this will be a hit for the social network or people will be too weary of connecting in such a way. One thing's for sure now - people will start paying a lot more attention to their privacy options than before.