Facebook to Launch Job Board

Published on Wednesday, 18 July 2012 12:39

	By Kate Marchant Follow @_AsktheExperts_

Facebook is aiming to launch a job board this summer, according to sources close to the site.

According to a recent report by Joseph Walker of Dow Jones, the social media site is planning to release a job board which will display posts from job giants such as BranchOut, Jobvite and Work4 Labs. It is currently unclear how the job board will appear, and whether it will be included in users’ news feeds or on a separate part of the website.

According to “people familiar with the matter”, the job board is intended to “drive user engagement on Facebook” and not to compete with other recruitment boards or social media business sites such as LinkedIn as yet, although it is unclear whether Facebook intends to eventually become a competitor in the online job-recruitment category if this venture proves successful.

When questioned, Facebook neither confirmed nor denied the introduction of a job board, with a representative of the company saying, “We don’t comment on rumour or speculation.” However, the publication of private emails and instant messages between Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin suggest that the rumours could indeed be true.

In an email to Saverin, Zuckerberg said, “You developed Joboozle knowing that at some point Facebook would probably want to do something with jobs. This was pretty surprising to us, because you basically made something on the side that would end up competing with Facebook.” Additionally, In October 2011, Facebook began a partnership with the US Department of Labour, the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the DirectEmployers Association, and the National Association of State Workforce Agencies to provide job-hunting resources. A statement from Facebook explained that the goal of this partnership was to “develop systems where new job postings can be delivered virally through the Facebook site at no charge.” It is rumoured that this venture is the next step in this partnership.

Many experts have shared their opinion about a Facebook job board online, with mixed views about how successful a Facebook job board is likely to be. Those in support of the idea have explained that in some ways, job searching and recruiting is already being done through Facebook. 92% of recruitment agencies said they have used social media websites to find potential job candidates and a high number of recruitment agencies and large companies use Facebook pages to advertise their latest vacancies.

This option has proven very successful, allowing “liked” pages to display updates in users’ news feeds about the latest roles and links to apply. More importantly, this option is free, making it hugely popular for smaller recruitment agencies. A source close to the job board project said, “If (the job board) takes off, they could devote more time to it,” potentially meaning that they could get more job boards involved and sharing their current vacancies on the board, although as yet it is unclear whether Facebook will continue to work collaboratively or begin to work competitively if successful.

Conversely, some believe that the venture is highly unlikely to succeed. JP Morgan’s Doug Anmuth is among those against the idea, adding, “We believe many users will want to keep their social and professional profiles somewhat separate online.” A source close to the project also said, “It doesn’t feel like a big effort they’ve worked on for a long time, it feels lightweight.” There has also been some speculation about how the job board will be presented. If it is to be linked in with users’ news feeds, it is believed that it will become disruptive and inconvenient to users.

All of these questions could be answered sooner than imagined, as the job board is rumoured to hit the site next month. But what do you think? Is this a good or bad idea? Would you apply for jobs through Facebook? Why or why not? Let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments.