Facebook's new jobs board: Is LinkedIn toast?

Opinion Brief

posted on November 14, 2012, at 5:40 PM

Facebook's new job board aggregates employment opportunities through sites like Monster.com. Photo: Facebook SEE ALL 16 PHOTOS

On the lookout for a new job? Here's something to like: Facebook, with the enthusiastic backing of the Department of Labor, just revealed a new job-board application to help many of the social network's 1 billion-plus users get back to work. The platform ? which partners with Monster.com, BranchOut, and Work4 Labs, among others ? aggregates 1.7 million openings from recruiters, allowing job-hunters to sift through listings by location, industry, and skill, or share job openings through their network. Facebook insists that it's not entering the recruiting industry, a statement that "appears far-fetched given the capability of the application," says J.J. Colao at Forbes. And of course, Facebook's expansion could spell bad news for LinkedIn, a site for professionals that, with 187 million users, has apparently faced some growth concerns?from investors. Will Facebook's job board kill LinkedIn?

This could be trouble for LinkedIn:?"LinkedIn must be worried," says Donna Tam at CNET. The new Facebook app's many launch partnerships, not to mention the social network's "attractive" pool of 1 billion users, highlight how much better Facebook is at the core task of social jobs recruiting. That's "LinkedIn's bread and butter," and clearly, Facebook is moving in.
"Recruiters post 1.7 million jobs on new Facebook jobs board"

But Facebook's app is barely functional: This could be "first-day-of-school jitters, but [Facebook's] app is returning unexpectedly inappropriate results for some searches," says Jolie O'Dell at VentureBeat. For instance: A query for writing jobs in the Bay Area yielded no results. Huh? Overall, the app is "not as well designed or as cohesive as one might like." For the time being at least, LinkedIn and other competitors are safe.?
"Facebook's government partnership on jobs results in barely functional app"

Plus, LinkedIn and Facebook appeal to different audiences: Look at it this way, says Forbes's Colao. Facebook's "varied demographics" differ from LinkedIn's "older, college-educated users." Work4 Labs, for instance, focuses on entry-level and hourly positions over the salaried openings that LinkedIn advertises. In any case, this much is clear: "The future of recruiting is decidedly social."
"The Facebook job board is here: Recruiting will never look the same"

Source: http://theweek.com/article/index/236422/facebooks-new-jobs-board-is-linkedin-toast

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