Facebook Career Pages: How to Get Them Right

Facebook, boasting more than 800 million active users, is fast becoming the go-to social networking portal for recruiting. A recent Jobvite survey found that 48 percent of all job seekers used Facebook to find a job, which goes against the common perception of Facebook as a purely social platform.

Companies are now harnessing the social networking power of Facebook by creating dynamic and interactive career pages  to recruit top talent, especially new college graduates and younger workers. And the best corporate career pages offer a one-stop shopping strategy, by allowing job seekers to apply for jobs without ever leaving Facebook. Candidates can seek out employment opportunities, return to socializing, and resume playing Mafia Wars or Word Challenge without missing a beat.

Best Practices

What are some of the best practices for creating and maintaining a company career Facebook page? To entice top talent to a career page, it’s crucial to provide a rich and visually stimulating experience. YouTube videos offering employee testimonials and a day-in-a-life of a worker should be front and center. Customers and job seekers should be encouraged to participate in the discussion on the Wall, using polls, contests and quizzes. And employees should promptly address questions and comments. It’s also a smart idea to introduce the talent acquisition team and make them available to answer inquiries about job opportunities. The more personalized the experience for candidates, the better. And the career opportunities should be available right on the Facebook page, if possible. The handy App, Work For Us makes it easy for companies to post jobs on their Facebook page. Let’s look at a few well designed career pages:

Sodexo Careers

Sodexo, Inc., a leading provider of quality of life services, headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland, certainly knows how to leverage the power of Facebook for its recruiting needs. The company has become so proficient in using social media for branding and talent acquisition, that it won an award in 2009 from the Society for New Communications Research for its innovative use of social media. What makes Sodexo’s career page special? For one, the company makes it easy for candidates to apply for jobs by making them available on its Facebook page. Secondly, there’s plenty of media rich content, including video, photos and even a company song. And polls and quizzes keep fans engaged.

There’s a link to the company’s Twitter feed, a careers blog with job-hunting advice, employee testimonials and the opportunity to subscribe to a bi-monthly Career Connections eNewsletter and Talent Community Job Alerts. The innovative Reconnexions program encourages referrals from former employees. The entire page from top to bottom is expertly leveraged to attract, engage and recruit quality talent.

Amway

Amway, one of the world’s largest direct selling businesses, headquartered in Ada, Michigan, recently launched a Facebook Talent Acquisition page and it’s pretty darn good. The health, beauty, personal care and home care product company displays all of its job opportunities on its Facebook page. It’s a simple process for job seekers to apply for a job without leaving Facebook. Additionally, candidates can share job opportunities with friends on Facebook or LinkedIn with a simple click of their mouse. The career page is not as media rich as Sodexo’s, but it has videos, photos and engaging career testimonials in narrative form under the Info tab. The page is streamlined, easy to access and does everything right. Fans can also subscribe to a career newsletter. However, the page doesn’t seem to offer much of an opportunity to engage with recruiters on a personal level.

Marriot Hotel

Marriott International, headquartered outside Washington, DC, has a Marriott Jobs and Careers Facebook page that offers job seekers lots of flash and glitz. The page pulls fans in with its own Facebook game, dubbed My Marriott Hotel. Players can gain experience working in a typical Marriott kitchen. There are the requisite videos and photos. But the page does not allow candidates to apply for jobs straight from Facebook. Instead, job seekers are directed to the careers page of the company website. Marriott does receive bonus points for its live career chat feature. Global Mariott recruiters and HR staff conduct regular live chats with prospective candidates, answering questions about job openings, offering interview tips and instructions for applying.

With Monster’s launch of BeKnown, its new recruiting App for Facebook, and a rush for companies to build a recruiting presence on the world’s most popular social networking platform, Facebook career pages are poised to become a powerful force in recruitment. Additionally, Facebook’s fan pages, groups, and powerful search functions make the platform a prime hunting ground for recruiters.