An article titled "7 Reasons Why Recruiters Like Facebook More Than LinkedIn" on Mashable.com this week pointed out that while LinkedIn is a great resource for employers and recruiters, Facebook is actually preferred in order to interact and find potential candidates. There are several reasons listed as to why Facebook is the top choice:
1. It's more engaging. While LinkedIn has the options to follow companies and generate discussions among networks, it can't compete with the level of engagement that Facebook offers via photos, events, wall posts, and company promotions. LinkedIn is more of a professional, one-sided conversation whereas Facebook stimulates conversation among employers and candidates.
2. It's where the action is. Think about how fast Facebook has grown in the last several years and how often it is used in comparison to LinkedIn. I know that personally, I check my LinkedIn once every few days, but I tend to check Facebook every day. For our generation, Facebook is simply more used than LinkedIn. Most people will set up a LinkedIn account, but then not use it very often.
3. It's free. While LinkedIn and Facebook are both free for us as candidates, LinkedIn costs money for employers. Therefore, Facebook is a more economical choice for employers because anyone can join free of cost. Facebook also offers the employers more free features such as videos and pictures, which generates interest and conversation amongst followers of companies.
4. It's a bigger network. Let's face it, no one can compete with the sheer numbers of Facebook. According to this article, Facebook boasts 800 million users, while LinkedIn has about 120 million. The larger of a user base there is, the more people a company can potentially reach.
5. It's more open. As was stated earlier, Facebook is free for everyone to join and every member enjoys the same benefits. LinkedIn offers benefits as well, but there are differences offered by a free account or a Premium account (for which one must pay).
6. The "Like" button. The "Like" button is a more recent invention by Facebook in order to engage users even further than before. When someone "likes" a company page, their friends will be able to see what they have "liked", which could potentially generate interest among even more users.
7. It's better for branding. I took this section to mean personal branding. LinkedIn seems to be more professionalized, but Facebook is where employers can see a candidate's true colors. This way, an employer can see the complete picture and personality of who they are interested in hiring, instead of the information given on LinkedIn. (This also means that we must be very careful what we put on Facebook and what other people put up about us as well).
The article brings up the point that a lot of students and recent grads are creeped out by employers because they feel it is a more personal site and shouldn't be used in job consideration. What do you guys think? Would you feel comfortable sharing information with employers over sites such as Facebook and Twitter, that are more personal, or a professional site like LinkedIn?
This is another good argument for the need to monitor Facebook pages if you're looking for a job. Anything is fair game--I think that the focus is on negative things that cause people to be overlooked in the job search in the majority of press about this issue. I think Facebook, done right, could be an amazing tool for helping you get a job, which this article seems to support.
ReplyDeleteThese are really good points, however I did just want to comment that LinkedIn does have the like button as well. However, it's only on certain things such as discussions on groups. I find this handy in networking, but as you mention, Facebook is a much bigger network and much more active right now. With it being a bigger network and more active, means you do have to monitor it more.
ReplyDeleteI'm not too keen on the idea that Facebook is favored over LinkedIn for businesses. LinkedIn comes off as a profession based social media site and facebook for the most part is definitely more personal as you stated. I don't think its a great thing for businesses to favor facebook because it can give the wrong impression to employers about potential job candidates, especially when facebook can document (basically) everything about a person since they became a member. Makes me kind of on edge about what i put on my page...
ReplyDeleteI certainly see why many people favor Facebook for recruiting at this time, but I anticipate that there will be a shift in this area towards Linked In. Linked In offers many uniquely business aspects to the profile pages that Facebook does not have nor will ever have(at least in the near future). Linked In will become the go-to recruiting tool, with Facebook being the crucial back up check for character to make sure that the person that is presented on Linked In is the real person that they are looking to hire. It will just take a little bit more time for Linked In to become a truly vital part or the hiring process. At least that's my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI do not treat my Facebook page as a professional page for employers to view. It is more of a thing between my friends and I that I am comfortable sharing with them. I would prefer it if employers used LinkedIn to find future employees rather than using Facebook because my LinkedIn page is much more professional and does not have all the extras that Facebook has on it. When I send out resumes I am going to actually delete my Facebook page just so I do not have any disadvantage with an employer not liking something on my Facebook.
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