Facebook or LinkedIn: Which Site Is Better for Finding a Job You Love?
Published: Mar 29, 2017
Last month, Facebook rolled out a new feature called Facebook Jobs. The feature allows local businesses to post open jobs and passively look for suitable candidates. The feature also allows candidates to apply for these jobs. And so, businesses are now able to use their company Facebook pages to post job openings and communicate with applicants through Facebook Messenger.
LinkedIn Jobs, which launched in January 2005, is a more mature, robust platform and still offers more options and features than Facebook Jobs. However, given Facebook’s much larger user base, which can populate its job and candidate pools, it might not be long before Facebook becomes a formidable competitor to LinkedIn.
Below, you'll find a breakdown of the current pros and cons of each social media site when it comes to its ability to help you find a job you love.
PROS
1. Laser-like focus on local jobs. For free, a jobseeker can set a two- to 100-mile radius parameter of where they want to work. This is a powerful tool made very accessible to a large audience. LinkedIn, meanwhile, only allows a few choices in multiples of five miles for a search.
2. Many jobs are entry-level and part-time roles in digital media, recruiting, personal care services, retail, and outdoor and recreation industries. Given the smaller pool of candidates on Facebook Jobs for these positions, jobseekers applying to these openings will find themselves in a relatively smaller pool of considered candidates. This increases the likelihood they'll get hired.
3. Facebook Jobs automatically populates an application with a jobseeker's Facebook profile. It is a great convenience not to have to re-enter information for an application that is already listed on a profile. However, jobseekers will have to ensure that their Facebook profiles are populated in a professional manner to be used in job seeking efforts.
4. Facebook Jobs permits a text section asking “Why do you think you’re a good candidate for [company name]?” Jobseekers can demonstrate their knowledge of the company and help the hiring manager connect the dots between the company’s needs and their experience.
CONS
1. A location must be set for a search. An option doesn't exist to search for a position without a location. If a jobseeker is relocating or open to a new location, a separate search will need to be done for the desired role in every city targeted for the new job (and you have to set the radius for the search for each city, too).
2. There are fewer jobs at the executive level listed compared to the executive job listings on LinkedIn Jobs. Note that this con can also inadvertently be a pro, since those early adopter executives that find a relevant executive job posting on Facebook Jobs will find themselves among fewer competitors, because fewer candidates look at Facebook Jobs at this point compared to LinkedIn Jobs.
3. There is not yet a way to search for related salaries for positions, like there is on LinkedIn Jobs.
4. Many people use Facebook for personal use. If a jobseeker chooses to use Facebook Jobs to look for positions, then the user’s profile needs to look professional to compete in this business context. A meld of personal and business personas is a con for many jobseekers.
PROS
1. Suggested jobs are offered based on the content of your profile. You can set preferences for the types of jobs you want suggested to you based on location, experience level, experience type (profession), industry, and company size.
2. You can research salaries for the positions in the locations you are targeting. This function (which you can find here) is extremely helpful for jobseekers to educate themselves on what the marketplace dictates for their skills.
3. With Premium Membership, jobseekers can see how they compare to other applicants. Jobseekers can compare themselves based on skill, current title, past experience, education, and location matching. (You can use the LinkedIn Profile Cheat Sheet to ensure your profile is optimized properly with the right key words in the right places.)
4. LinkedIn has the option to quickly apply using its InEasy Apply feature. Note that if the employer uses this option, you should apply through the company’s website using your resume or LinkedIn profile, or upload your resume to the LinkedIn Job posting.
5. Job alerts. Jobseekers can create a Job Search Alert, where they're notified of newly posted roles that meet their search criteria.
CONS
1. The competition is fierce on LinkedIn Jobs. While Facebook has many more monthly users than LinkedIn, LinkedIn Jobs has more activity than Facebook Jobs. This means a jobseeker will face more competition on LinkedIn Jobs.
2. A jobseeker needs to whittle through sponsored job postings and have a solid command of Boolean search terms to find jobs that meet their keyword parameters. While it is great that LinkedIn Jobs has more jobs to choose from, there are also more jobs to sift through to get to the right positions.
3. If a jobseeker is looking for entry-level or part-time work, LinkedIn is a bit lacking for opportunities meeting these criteria. LinkedIn tends to have more representation of openings in mid-to-senior level roles in the corporate areas.
So, ultimately, which site is better to use to find your dream job: Facebook or LinkedIn? The answer is “it depends.” If you're looking for entry-level jobs in specific industries, Facebook Jobs could be the better option to start a search. However, if you're looking for more experienced positions, then LinkedIn Jobs will have many more postings. Though, keep in mind that executive jobseekers can find themselves in a much smaller pool of candidates for consideration through Facebook Jobs.
Overall, at the time, you shouldn't rule our either site entirely. It's best to use each both, and use them often, to determine which one is best for your specific needs.
A version of this post previously appeared on ChameleonResumes.com.