There are some “new” job search tools on Facebook that are getting a lot of buzz:
BeKnown: This is Monster’s product/application for job seekers. Many career experts are cautioning you to be careful what you do with BeKnown since you might let an employer know you are in a job search… that is, your current employer! More information here.
Branchout: Branchout was supposed to be the LinkedIn killer, on Facebook. I haven’t read much about it lately but a few weeks ago I asked a recruiter what he thought about it and he said he regularly did searches on Branchout for candidates. Will it kill LinkedIn? Hardly. But if recruiters are looking for it, it might be worth your attention. More information here.
Is Facebook a place for job seekers?
I don’t think it’s a place to spend too much time, and I don’t think you should replace face-to-face and other tasks with hours spent on Facebook, but if you could do any of these three things, Facebook can be a good tool for your job search:
- Share your brand – get a stronger personal brand,
- Grow your network,
- Nurture individual relationships.
Can you do any of these on Facebook? Then you should figure out how to incorporate it into your strategy!
Hello there,
My name is Ali and I am BranchOut’s Community Manager. Thank your for covering BranchOut!
BranchOut is a free Facebook application for anyone interested in professional success. All BranchOut users create professional profiles that include their work history and education. Personal Facebook information, like photo albums and status updates, are not included in BranchOut profiles. BranchOut also offers endorsements, which friends and colleagues give to one another as a way to acknowledge skills and accomplishments.
At the core of the BranchOut user experience is the ability to find connections through one’s extended friend network. For example, when you search for a company on BranchOut, you gain visibility to a list of friends and friends-of-friends who work at that company. These inside connections can be used to increase access to new jobs, sales leads, and recruiting talent. On BranchOut job seekers search for employment opportunities and are found by recruiters.
We don’t see ourselves as “trying to destroy LinkedIn”, rather there is room in the space for both (think Pepsi/Coke). Simply put, there are 140M people are LinkedIn and 800M people on Facebook, so we appeal to a much wider demographic.
I’d love to be a resource if you have additional questions. Please don’t hesitate to reach out!
Cheers,
Ali
Ali, kudos for adding to the conversation… 🙂