By Brad Smith
Over the past few years, staffing companies and employers had the ability to post job openings on Facebook’s Marketplace for free. Candidates could easily search for positions that matched their criteria and apply online through Facebook.
It seemed like a great feature for job seekers and employers alike. Unfortunately, it looks like all good things must come to an end.
Jobs on Facebook (As We Know It Now) Is Coming to an End on February 22, 2022
As a Facebook partner, we were recently informed of sweeping changes coming to the Jobs on Facebook product. You can see the full details of these changes on Facebook’s Business Help Center.
How the Jobs on Facebook Update Will Impact Your Staffing Company and Employers
Facebook’s change will dramatically impact the visibility of your job postings.
You Can Still Post Jobs – But Just on Your Page
Employers will be able to post directly to their Facebook Company page. But these will no longer be rolled up into a searchable database for candidates. Now, a job seeker will need to find your company page, navigate there, click on your jobs or see a job posted on your wall, and apply.
No More Automated Feeds
Facebook’s changes eliminate the automatic posting, forcing you to manually post jobs.
Applications Live in Facebook
Not only will there no longer be a way to send a feed of jobs to Facebook, but applications will revert to Messenger.
Yep, the New Jobs on Facebook Changes Stink. Here’s What You Can Do About It
Adapt quickly with these ideas:
Pay to Play
You can still post jobs to your page for free. But that’s likely to get you nowhere. When posting to your page, job seekers that already like and follow your page “might” see the post – but with Facebook’s algorithm, that will be throttled.
As a workaround, look at either boosting your job posts to gain visibility or running aggressive ad campaigns to drive traffic to your job postings. When done properly, these can be highly effective, but for those that don’t do this – your jobs will virtually disappear into the abyss. (If you do need help with Job Boosting or targeted Facebook ad campaigns, we’re here for you!)
Build a Stronger Following
If you don’t have a strong following on Facebook, no one is going to see your jobs organically. You need to invest in building your following (both organically and through a paid follower campaign) to see any organic reach. I would encourage you to think about your value proposition for job seekers: Why in the world should they follow you? Then identify your top jobs (best pay, best companies) and leverage those to build a stronger following. Also, add value for the job seeker. Give them a reason to follow you instead of just repeating the same old, boring “Apply Now” post every day.
Create More Engagement
As mentioned earlier, Facebook’s algorithm will throttle your reach. Let’s say you have 1,000 page likes. Facebook may only show 50 people your posting. If no one engages with it, that might be your total reach. However, if a bunch of people engage (like, comment, share), Facebook may show it to another 100, and then another 100, etc. The more post engagement you get, the bigger your organic reach. So, look for ways to make your posts more engaging. Have some fun. Build-in some humor. Make sure your posts are authentic. Be choosy about which jobs to showcase. Get your team involved in sharing and commenting. Get your current contract employees to share. All these things can drive engagement and use the algorithm to your advantage.
STOP Being “Job” Focused – Build Your Employment Brand
So many staffing companies are “job” focused. They promote a specific job today and then another specific job tomorrow. Why? Individual jobs come and go, but you are ALWAYS looking for good people. Instead of relying on a specific job post to drive interest, let’s flip it. Let’s outline all the amazing reasons your company matches people with the “right” position. Use Facebook and social media to gather reviews, build endorsements, and create a referral stream. Build your company’s brand as the go-to source for incredible opportunities in your city or your industry vertical. Make it about the experience your team provides, not about one specific job. Help your recruiters develop and build their brands as well.
This is just the tip of the recruiting iceberg.
Follow this link for more ideas on how to adapt your recruiting to manage the disappearance of Facebook Jobs.
