PR 101 – Lesson 40 – Facebook and all that – when it comes to job hunting
Jeff Cole | December 7, 2009
I have to make an admission right up front this week’s blog about job hunting: I am torn about Facebook and its effectiveness. I am not sure whether the largest social media site on Earth – 350 million users and counting – is where you want to be in your job hunt.
I know Facebook can hurt you in a job hunt. I plan to go into the don’ts of social media job-hunting next week. However, one thing I will say now – would you hire someone whose Facebook pictures included topless photos from Cabo or the beer bong drinking championships? I wouldn’t either. Take those pictures down ASAP. Those can never help, especially if you want to be taken seriously.
Be that as it may, I am going into the pros and cons of Facebook and let you decide what to do. I have to say that if I were looking for a job, I would not use Facebook. That’s my bias. I want that stated up front so you know. I will keep try to keep my bias out of this blog as much as possible, but just keep that in mind.
So, let’s get into it.
The Pros Of Using Facebook In A Job Hunt
The first reason to use Facebook is its sheer size. At over 350 million users and growing, it is the largest social media site on Earth. It is has penetrated the entire developed world – just about everyplace you would want to work. Judging by the 400 or so followers I have on Facebook, I would say that the people who use the platform are pretty representative of the Earth’s population.
Secondly, many, many companies are using Facebook for marketing and sales. A lot of people don’t seem to know that Facebook has business pages. A lot of companies use those pages. It is good place to check out potential employers. You can tell by a company’s marketing efforts that they are targeting for sales. It can give you a sense of their needs.
Third, a Facebook profile is more informal than LinkedIn’s. In this age of getting to know the real person, a potential employer will often feel that your Facebook profile is a better picture of who you are.
There are two things about your profile I want to say. This applies to all social media, not just Facebook.
When you post your profile, include a picture. I have face I think scares small children, but I still post my picture. Frankly, I am suspicious of people who don’t. Unless you are the run from the law, your creditors, or an angry ex-spouse, there is no reason not to post a picture. Excuse the pun, but it helps potential employers get a picture of who you are.
Okay, so maybe this is not the kind of picture you should post with your profile. But, it is important to post a photo.
Use your real name when you set up a profile. Again, why wouldn’t you use your real name? Any employer who is doing their job is going to search out all of your various social media applications. How is going to look when they find your Twitter name is “drunkguy39” or “sexxygirl?” Not good I think.
The Cons of Facebook
Before I get started, “The Cons of Facebook” would be a great movie title. It sounds like the title of an S.E. Hinton novel. It could be set in a prison. A group of convicts, led by an imprisoned hacker, could be trying to use the Internet to escape a despotic warden. Think it has legs?
Getting to the real cons, my major complaint about Facebook has always been there is too much noise. Besides profiles and pictures, there are games, ads, causes and a host of other things. It is a not a clean experience for any employer trying to check out an employee.
To me, Facebook is a place to play, while LinkedIn is a place to work. It’s that simple.
Plus, people tend to be more frivolous on Facebook. I don’t know why that is, but happens. I have been guilty myself sometimes. You find yourself answering quizzes such what “Sopranos” character one would be, or backing a political cause. Most companies shy away from any political involvement. It is just bad for business. You never know what a client’s political stance might be. So, I think a hiring manager might not contact a person who espouses some strong belief.
I am not saying you shouldn’t have strong beliefs. Just be careful who you share them with. And if you put them on Facebook, you have shared those beliefs with a lot of people.
Well, that’s my advice for this week. Next week, I am going to write about the don’ts of social media job hunting. I have touched on some of them, but I want to hit them all.
Also, if you have been using social media for job-hunting, I would like to talk to you. I would like some real world examples of what works and what doesn’t work. We can do this anonymously or I can use your name. Leave a comment if you are interested.
Finally, on a professional note, I find I suddenly can handle two more clients for my agency. We are a full service social media, public relations and marketing company. Contact me if you would like to talk. Thanks.
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I completely agree, Jeff. Facebook is my place to keep up with family and friends, whereas LinkedIn, Plaxo and Twitter are my work-related sites to network and keep up on emerging trends. Great to see point-by-point pros and cons!
I think of FB as the casual Friday version of electronic networking. You exhibit items there that you would not dare to on Monday morning in front of the boss. Having said that, FB is good for exposure to a wide audience, provided that you’ve got some kind of schtick to bring traffic to your wall. Personally, I haven’t found FB to be very helpful. I get more out of Linked In, but then the people on that network tend to be professional, and don’t post topless images from their drunken weekend in Cabo.
Hello Jeff,
Interesting discussion. Earlier, in my own search for work, I debated similar concerns. Last year I expended a lot of energy cleaning up my contact database. Along the way, I learned quite a bit.
About 15% of my contacts were in LinkedIn. About the same amount, perhaps a shade fewer, were in Facebook. Interestingly, while a third of my contacts were in -either- LinkedIn or Facebook, there was only about a 10% overlap between them. In otherwords, of the roughly 1/3 of my contacts that used social networking, they were fairly cleanly split between the two services.
And, it makes some sense. LinkedIn is the ‘professional’ environment. Expect to find anyone looking to conduct formal ‘business’ there. Don’t dismiss Facebook though. There, I found more casual (as expected) activities, including groups of retailers, non-profits, and -churches-. My church’s youth coordinator doesn’t exist at all on LinkedIn. But she maintains a very dynamic church representation with 100s of her current and past youth members.
Where you spend your time is dependent on where your audiences may be. My recommendation is that you carefully leverage multiple mediums, including Facebook. if your target market is a NPO (non-profit), a service group, or other more-socially minded organization like a religious insititution, you may find Facebook actually more important that LinkedIn.
Of course, there are also exceptions. My motorcycle organization is well represented on Facebook…and i get some active leads via that group. If nothing else, it’s an example where you simply cannot afford to ignore facebook because you see it as a non-business oriented waste of energy. Its rich with business, just the feel or flavor of interaction is different–and you need to be sensitive to it.
Regardless of the forum you elect to use, it really doesn’t matter, what we are all required to do now is -reputation management-. It is a topic I’ve had to discuss with my oldest daughter. When I was her age, my biggest concern was how to get my hands on Dad’s car keys. Now, children to be mindful that what they say today, will be (however minimally) reflective of who they are 20 years from now since nothing ‘goes away’ anymore.
Hi Jeff, long time no talk. I know that FB is not your most favorite platform, but it does serve a purpose. LinkedIn is great for professional networking, and thus also for job hunting. It is not so great for connecting with potential customers. That is where FB comes in, in my opinion.
It is a general misconception that anyone you befriend on FB, can see pictures your high school buddies put up on your FB wall. FB has an extremely impressive privacy setup. You decide who sees what. E.g. pictures from that personal trip years ago could be restricted to your friends, or even your high school friends if you want.
Furthermore, you should separate your profile page (your personal page) from the “so called” fan pages. The fan pages are meant for business purposes, whereas the profile page is for your personal life. If you keep the two separate and change your settings, so that only your high school friends see those embarrassing pictures, you may start enjoying the business FB will bring.
I think you are right. But you should cover more on this topic.
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