Facebook: The Missing Manual

Chapter 9. Hiring and Getting Hired

In real life, people hire and fire based on info they get through the grapevine—in other words, through their social networks: “You’re looking for a programmer? My brother-in-law’s the best programmer on the planet! Here’s his number.” Or, “They’re hiring down at my gym. You should throw them a resumé.”

Because Facebook’s whole raison d'être is social networking, it should come as no surprise that the site can be a great help in job searches. This chapter shows you how to work the job pool from both angles. If you’re looking for an employee or intern, you can use Facebook to recruit and vet prospects. If you’re job hunting, you can research jobs and make connections with people who might help you get hired.

Recruiting New Hires

Technically, unless you sign up for one of Facebook’s official ad programs such as sponsored groups (Sponsored Groups), advertising to fill an open position (or advertising for anything else) is strictly forbidden according to the site’s terms of use (Signing Up for an Account): “You understand that except for advertising programs offered by us on the Site...the Service and the Site are available for your personal, non-commercial use only”.

Whether or not you choose to pay to advertise your openings on the site, perhaps the most useful feature of Facebook is how you can put your social network to work identifying job openings and candidates for you.

Paid Advertising

If your company has the budget for it, you might want to pay ...