Back in November 2017 we watched with interest as Facebook announced it was trialing CV functionality and now it seems the social networking giant is continuing its approach into the online job space.
Last week (1st March 2018) saw the announcement that Facebook is rolling out job post functionality to users in forty more countries, it’s a move which means businesses will be able to post job openings to a jobs tab on their page, jobs dashboard, the Facebook marketplace and on their news feed which they can also promote through the use of ads. For candidates it means a seamless approach to applications simply submitting through their Facebook profile, editing within the platform and using Messenger to communicate – it’s a great development for hiring managers, recruiters and candidates alike but does it represent a further encroach on LinkedIn’s space?
What do we think? Well yes, it does but perhaps not in such a direct way as you would think. And the proposition – at least initially – is likely to be more appealing to a younger audience. We’re sure somewhere in Zuckerberg’s masterplan is the desire to conquer the jobs market, it’s a natural extension of the business services Facebook already offers and it’s something which if achieved gives Facebook a renewed purpose in people’s lives, particularly those who are eschewing it for other platforms in personal use or simply just quitting it altogether.
And that’s really where Facebook has the opportunity to encroach on LinkedIn’s’ territory; by offering value across the job seeking space as, while LinkedIn ‘for now’ has the stronghold on the professional market, there’s a whole host of job seekers who won’t use LinkedIn which Facebook can tap into. Therefore, if Facebook connects (particularly SME) businesses with local candidates – and does this well – there could be a gateway into the more lucrative professional market.
What’s your view? Could Facebook ever take over LinkedIn in the jobs space?