This is one of the questions I hear most often – and my response is usually to quote the latest figures on how many people use Facebook in a month. I just saw this following status update on Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook page.
Mark Zuckerberg
1 hr ·
“We just passed an important milestone. For the first time ever, one billion people used Facebook in a single day.
On Monday, 1 in 7 people on Earth used Facebook to connect with their friends and family.
When we talk about our financials, we use average numbers, but this is different. This was the first time we reached this milestone, and it’s just the beginning of connecting the whole world.
I’m so proud of our community for the progress we’ve made. Our community stands for giving every person a voice, for promoting understanding and for including everyone in the opportunities of our modern world.
A more open and connected world is a better world. It brings stronger relationships with those you love, a stronger economy with more opportunities, and a stronger society that reflects all of our values.
Thank you for being part of our community and for everything you’ve done to help us reach this milestone. I’m looking forward to seeing what we accomplish together.” End of Mark Zuckerberg’s status update on Facebook.
Back to the original question ‘Why should I use Facebook to find a job?’
Granted – a billion people are not going to be reading your Facebook status updates – I do realize that.
And it is not about a multitude of people viewing your status updates, either.
The ‘thing’ about Facebook, is that it is ‘personal’ (as opposed to ‘professional’). And who would be more likely to help you in your job search? A former colleague, or, a friend or family member? Arguably, we like to think both. And most of the time, I like to think both is correct. While a fellow job seeker or colleague would love to help you if they could, wouldn’t it be feasible that a ‘friend’ would do the same? Or more?
I know from my own experience, as far as relationship building goes, the best scenario to get to know a person is face-to-face, eye-to-eye, a handshake. In my opinion, human contact will never become secondary, to text and type. There is so much non-verbal communication in an in-person meeting, that most of the time, it really goes unnoticed. But we do register this type of communication. It is what fuels our instinct, our gut feelings.
My point in utilizing Facebook as a job search tool, is not to befriend every one you meet at all of your networking groups, but share your career goals and job search activity with those people you already consider ‘friends’ in Facebook. Make it a point to plant the seed, that you are interested in a certain position at a certain company. Or that you attended a great networking event at The Breakfast Club NJ. Or even that your department is looking for a great IT Project Manager with experience in Agile Methodologies. You do not know who might know someone that can help you. You may not be aware that cousin Vinnie’s next door neighbor is the CEO of your target company. Or that you daughter’s soccer coach’s wife is the HR VP in another company you are interested in. I think you get my point. It is within this ‘unknown network’ of friends, and friends of friends, and the public, that may actually reach out and help you.