Is Facebook replacing LinkedIn as the place

to be discovered by recruiters?

For over 20 years, LinkedIn has been the online career networking place for professionals and anyone else serious about their career. Some consider it less a networking platform and little more than a big job board. However it's seen, it has a big influence on job search and hiring in the US and now in many other countries.

Its fans say it's useful to everyone: It's been where experts in every field can start discussions and gain a following, where companies can post jobs, and where recruiters can find candidates. 

Microsoft has owned LinkedIn since 2014, and does very well with each of 3 "sides" of the business: Individual candidates pay usually about $40/month to be there, companies have a presence (the new Premium level is $99/month) in the hopes they attract new talent. And recruiters each pay over $12,000 a year for a recruiter "seat", with access to powerful search tools, to find and present great candidates to managers and teams looking to add amazing new team members.

But recent research by Jobvite shows that increasingly, recruiters are looking to Facebook to find talent. While Facebook is not primarily known for its career networking capabilities, people friending other people DO make many, many connections. 

It is said that the main reason why recruiters look for candidates on Facebook -- individual profiles as well as participants in Facebook groups -- is because people on Facebook usually check in daily. They want to see what's happening with their friends, families, and in the world. So they are more likely to see an appeal to be in touch, from a recruiter, even if they are not in job search. Good recruiters reach out to those NOT actively looking, all the time, to see if they can persuade them to leave where they are now.

In comparison, LinkedIn is thought of as "primarily for job search". While I talk to my clients about LinkedIn hosting your main career presence on the web, meaning for far more than just job search but also for career management and long-term career exposure, most still do not check in every day unless they are in job search. 

So what to do to get noticed on Facebook, by those doing the hiring? Today, recruiters are younger and younger all the time so be where they are looking: and that can mean Facebook. And YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and more. Sure, it means a little time spent on setting each one up (I urge candidates to choose just two, at least for starters), but it will increase your visibility.

Here's what I tell those in job search: Sure, you probably are "on" Facebook now so you can communicate with your friends and family, maybe under your name. So add a second, "business" profile, perhaps using your name and title, which focuses on your work, your field. Be sure to use keywords that employers look for in the profiles of potential team members. Focus on your achievements, the satisfaction the work gives you, posts about the latest developments in technology in your work, and on what people in your field are talking about. Have a more formal photo of you. Ask a few colleagues to post a comment about how you contributed to the team. This profile should take 1-2 hours to do: worth it for the visibility. You can even add "Go to my profile on LinkedIn for more", so that you don't have to put everything on Facebook or other platforms. The idea is to get found.

Facebook is not going to replace LinkedIn any time soon. But the smart job hunter needs to be where recruiters are looking. Today, the data is saying Facebook is one of those other places.