Professional Networking on Facebook: Branching Out from Just Friends

Community Manager — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 14:09:00 GMT

Facebook, the go-to social networking site of a staggering 750 million users, now has an increasing number of third-party apps that allow for professional networking. BranchOut is perhaps the best known; others include the newer BeKnown, as well as Identified and Work4Labs.

Companies are increasingly using social networking to source high-quality candidates due to its ease and cheapness. Given that many top-tier companies are shifting from traditional hiring methods such as job boards and third-party recruiters, professional networking through social media channels is becoming ever more critical.

Here's an overview of some of the players:

BranchOut: BranchOut is an app that allows Facebook users to unlock massive amounts of career data on Facebook friends (and even friends of friends). Users can search on a company name and see which of your Facebook friends work there (or used to).

BranchOut also allows users to import their existing data from LinkedIn, making profiles a snap to create. The app also allows companies to post job listings.

For more, read:

BranchOut=Facebook Plus LinkedIn Divided by Job Search

BeKnown: Job search behemoth Monster.com launched BeKnown, allowing job hunters to search for and apply for jobs without leaving Facebook. The app is fully integrated with Facebook, but lets users keep their personal Facebook information private, a major plus.

Job seekers can not only view and apply for jobs, they can see company information, get endorsed, and apply for jobs directly from the app.

For more, read:

Monster.com Launches BeKnown: Professional Social Networking for Facebook

Identified: A professional network that builds candidate profiles using relevant Facebook biographical data; allows recruiters to search all candidates by a variety of requirements such as GPA or school attended; the service also keeps sensitive social data out of the hands of recruiters.

For more, read:

Identified to Challenge LinkedIn by Building Job Candidate Profiles from Facebook Data

Work 4 Labs: An app for recruiters and candidates. Companies can post jobs to their Facebook Page and advertise via Facebook Ads. The app also offers referral features. Work4 Labs also develops Jobs for Me, one of the largest networks of university career centers and vertical job boards on Facebook. According to the company, users include blue-chip names such as Citibank, Accenture, Oracle, Microsoft, KPMG and Intel to name a few.

For more, read:

Tools of the Trade - Work4Labs: Work 4 Us App

Finally, we leave you with a useful read for optimizing social media to land coveted gigs: 5 Clever Ways to Get a Job Using Social Media.

Good luck with the job search!

Beyond Folders : linked in, Facebook

Professional Networking on Facebook: Branching Out from Just Friends