Tips for Using Facebook in Your Job Search

Career Blog

Published: July 21, 2017 by Kate M. Spaulding

You may or may not have considered using Facebook in your job search. But now that Facebook officially has a job search feature, it’s worth a second look as yet another way to land your next job.

You may or may not have considered using Facebook in your job search. But now that Facebook officially has a job search feature, it’s worth at least thinking about taking advantage. There are a few things to take into account, both about Jobs on Facebook and about using Facebook in general.

The most obvious point (to me, anyway) is that your privacy settings are really important. If you haven’t given your social media sites a privacy tune-up, now is a great time. I mean it. Go. Now. I’ll wait.

Your public profile(s) should only display what you want potential employers to see. Is your profile pic a photo of you drunk at a wedding? Yeeeaaah, you probably want to change that. Are there tattoos showing that wouldn’t normally be visible at work and may not be appreciated by an employer? Also, consider who or what is in the picture with you; hiring managers may make assumptions based on the smiling face next to yours. Should it matter? No. Might it? Yes. Like it or not, and legally or not, humans have personal biases and having a significant other, child, or political hat in your picture could affect your job hunt.

Your profile needs to be “on brand,” particularly during the crucial job-hunt phase of your career development. Make sure you list your institutional and work credentials. If you want to show interests, contact info, location, and more, you can. Facebook has help pages all about Privacy Settings; you can also test your own profile and see it as a specific person or group of people might.

Money has a good overview of using Facebook’s new job search feature. It includes tips, how-tos, and things to keep in mind. The (probably more useful/likely to be successful) way of using Facebook to get a job is, in a nutshell, networking. Even passive networking. If you post an update mentioning your job hunt, someone may know someone who can hire you (for real). For more information, I pulled together a few articles with advice and best practices on the Career Development site.

Have you gotten a job thanks to Facebook? (or, do you work at Facebook and want to hire me? Let’s chat!) I’d love to read your stories, tips, and ideas in the comments!

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