I don’t write very much about using Facebook for your job hunt. Why? Honestly, it’s not my favorite social network. I’m a bit of a Twitter fanatic, and LinkedIn is an obvious social networking tool for job seekers. I usually say that Facebook is my #3 “go-to” social network for job seekers.
That said, you may have read recently that Facebook has reached over 300 million users. We know that, if it were a country, it would be the world’s 4th largest. My friend Dan Schawbel tweeted stats that LinkedIn just hit 50 million users and Twitter has ~20 million.
So, it would be unwise to ignore how job seekers can mobilize their Facebook networks for professional networking. That’s why I was so excited to read THIS POST by Sarah Welstead, a Recruitment Marketing Consultant who works with Head2Head and RetiredWorker. She really nails down some great reasons to re-look at Facebook.
Some of her points? (In bold – commentary is mine.)
Just because it’s ‘fun’ doesn’t mean it’s not ‘productive.’
Au contraire, mon frere. (Ah, Facebook reminds me of high school – just something my old friend used to say!) How amazing is it that something that is a “guilty pleasure” for some can actually be useful! How is it useful to reconnect with old high school (or grade school!) friends? Read on…
Still a ‘sphere of influence’ – just a different sphere
You need to network? Well, Facebook is a network! I have a colleague who mentioned that she gets a lot of referrals from connections on Facebook, as her high school friends are all professionals now, many of whom need resumes and job search help.
Similarly, you can connect with friends on Facebook for professional information and advice. You never know who knows someone who knows someone.
Your school friends have grown up into successful people – who’ll make great business contacts!
Welstead notes in her piece: “Remember, people tend to move in peer groups: That means that if you’re ambitious and successful now, the kids you hung with in high school or university, and the friends you made in your first career jobs in your early 20s, have probably gone on to be successful and ambitious, too. In other words, they’re worth knowing for professional reasons.”
So, if you use Facebook only to take quizzes and complain about your spouse, it probably won’t be terribly useful for professional networking. But, if you include enough information to let people know about the professional you, it can be a very personal and successful way to connect.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Miriam! Great post! It has seemed sometimes that there is a segregation of what works where. I didn’t use Facebook before I used Twitter but now I am over there sometimes much more than on Twitter. I find that I can build a different kind of connection on FB. People I knew, I now know better. People I would see rarely, like my paddling friends, now say “see you on Facebook!” when they leave the river. My two worlds are integrating. My career friends see more of the strange whitewater passion world I live in and my paddling friends see me as the resource to turn to when they do need career advice.
I’m different in that I am kind of a split personality but I see Facebook as an excellent way to integrate the two. Building community all around. They say pictures speak a thousand words and when I bought a little camera and started posting photos, I opened a whole different door to conversation.
Networking is networking and your topic is timely and right on.
Julie Walraven´s last blog ..What Makes You Happy?
Julie – I know what you mean! Thanks for your thoughts. I spend so much time on Twitter, it is hard to think of shifting to FB, but there are opportunities for different relationships and expanding friendships we don’t otherwise have time to build in our busy lives! I finally jumped in and set up a “Fan Page” for Keppie Careers, as it can be a great forum for conversation that is more “fixed” than Twitter. I see value in all of the networks. As with everything – there is no one answer for everyone, just many options!