How to Use Facebook’s New Job Search App

Would you ever use Facebook to job hunt?

The social network, on which many users have struggled to define their work-life division, partnered with the U.S. Department of Labor, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), the DirectEmployers Association and the National Association of State Workforce Agencies to produce a new Facebook app to let you find and share employment opportunities.

The Social Jobs Partnership app is “a central location where recruiters can share open positions with the Facebook community sorted by industry, location and skills,” Facebook says.

The 1.7 million job listings are provided by BranchOut, DirectEmployers Association, Work4Labs, Jobvite and Monster.com.

Facebook says it created this app to “tap into the growing trend of talent acquisition through social media.” A recent NACE survey found that Facebook is emerging as an important factor in linking qualified jobs with qualified candidates. Below are three key stats from employers surveyed:

• Half of employers (50 percent) use Facebook in their hiring process. A majority (54 percent) already using the social network and anticipates Facebook becoming a more important part of the talent-acquisition process in the near future.
• Nearly 90 percent of companies say that Facebook has decreased the amount of print advertising needed with regards to their recruiting efforts, making Facebook a cost-effective way to find new talent.
• Of companies using Facebook to acquire new employees, more than half state the importance of networking and referrals. The number-one suggestion by recruiters (87 percent) is for candidates using Facebook to Like a desired company’s Facebook page, followed by using Facebook as a networking tool.

How to Use Facebook’s Job Search App

Like most job websites and applications, you can narrow down the type of job you’re looking for by keyword, category, subcategory and location, (specifying the mile radius you’re willing to travel).

After you add your job specifications and click “Search Jobs,” Facebook will return a list of matching job openings. You can browse results by clicking on each of the five listing providers.

Clicking on the job title gives you a quick rundown of the job specifics, such as the location and team, and a button to click that will send you to the recruiter’s website for more details.

Within each search result is also a Like button that will display how many people have liked that job (and where you can like the position as well). It also includes a Send button that lets you share the job listing with a Facebook friend or send it to someone’s email address.

Would you use Facebook’s job search app in your hunt for a new position? Cast your vote in our poll below.

Kristin Burnham covers consumer technology, social networking and enterprise collaboration for CIO.com. Follow Kristin on Twitter @kmburnham. Follow everything from CIO.com on Twitter @CIOonline and on Facebook. Email Kristin at kburnham@cio.com