Yesterday, I shared some ideas to get you thinking about using Facebook as a professional networking outlet, inspired by 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.

Today, the definitive…Why you should be using Facebook. (Also inspired by Sarah. Bold – her thoughts, commentary is my own.)

The ‘fun’ value will help you stay motivated

Let’s face it…Updating your LinkedIn profile really isn’t that much fun. How often do you get sucked into spending hours on LinkedIn, just for the heck of it? Contrast it with Facebook. Admit it- you could click around for hours, if only you had time. Or, maybe you do already. As Welstead says in her post, “If you’re already on Facebook, it’s way easy to use it for building your professional profile!”

Facebook delivers better-quality relationships

Think about this. Have you seen pictures of your LinkedIn network’s kids or dogs? How close of a bond do you really feel with them? Contrast to Facebook. Welstead makes a good point about quality over quantity: You may have a smaller network on Facebook – in fact, the BBC says that 150 is the ideal number of Facebook friends, …but because you’re able to have more meaningful interactions, with more people, on a daily basis, those contacts are likely to deliver more ROI in the long run than 1000+ LinkedIn connections.

Bonus tip from Sarah: “People are always more likely to trust someone they’ve known since Grade 8 than someone they’ve met at work, even if they haven’t talked to them since high school.  So rekindling an old relationship will always be easier than forging a new one.”

Another stat from Welstead: At least 50% of your contacts aren’t using LinkedIn!

You want to cast the widest net possible, and the numbers show that Facebook has the most people. I have a friend who is skeptical about all of these social networks. She badmouths them left and right and never hesitates to make fun of the Facebook fanatics. But, guess what? She has a profile there now. The pressure was too much for her! She finally realized that there are some nice results from being able to see pictures of people she cares about but has no interest in talking to! You can’t find her on LinkedIn, though, so don’t even try!

How many friends do YOU have like that? You don’t want to miss opportunities by “poo poo-ing” Facebook.

Facebook is a better ice-breaker

If you connect with your old pals, the nostalgia factor is likely to kick in and it’s just easier to start a conversation. Who is going to argue with that?

Facebook helps you stay top-of-mind with the people who are most invested in you and your career

Update your status, share your expertise, and you may be surprised how many people pay attention. A reminder – this is not a suggestion to run to Facebook, set up a profile and link to old friends for the purpose of asking if anyone has any job leads. Build a network, share information, connect with old friends and THEN, if there is a good opportunity, you can share your needs. Give before you expect to take. Don’t forget, most people don’t think they can help a jobseeker, so if you go “out” as one, you may find that networking does not work for you.

photo by Brian Veloso

The post Why you should be on Facebook appeared first on Keppie Careers.

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.

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