Last week it was Don't Look Behind You Facebook, Google+ May Be Gaining On You where I told of the amazing ascent of Google+ and the possible threat it poses to Facebook. Well today comes word that Facebook looks to take a bite out of LinkedIn's job recruitment and online networking pie.
Everyone knows that you use LinkedIn for more "professional" activities, right? You go on, you update your profile, you join some groups - professional groups that is...
Here's a recent chart that appeared on eMarketer:
And we all know that LinkedIn is the preferred social media network for job recruitment and online networking, right?
Well...
Recruiters Troll Facebook for Candidates They Like. That was the ominous (for LinkedIn anyway) headline that appeared on the Wall Street Journal website today. Seem as if having access to 750 million+ users is attractive to some companies and their recruitment endeavors... go figure.
With traditional fee based job boards such as Monster and CareerBuilder becoming more and more obsolete, the time is right for some companies to tap into the free database of potential employees otherwise known as Facebook. One such company is Waste Management, who say the majority of the traffic that comes via social media to their careers website comes via Facebook and not LinkedIn.
The majority of social-media traffic to Waste Management Inc.'s careers website comes from Facebook, beating out LinkedIn. And another company, VMware Inc., a Palo Alto, Calif., cloud-computing company, says it has cut back on the number of jobs it posts to job boards and finds Facebook users spend more time on Facebook than LinkedIn users do on LinkedIn. In other words, potential employees are easier to reach on Facebook than on LinkedIn. VMware also plans on utilizing BranchOut, Facebook's Job and Career Networking application.
And what do the folks at LinkedIn have to say about all this? Well during a conference call last week LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner told those in attendance that LinkedIn users tell them they would prefer to keep their personal and professional networks separate. This sentiment was supported by Jeff Vijungco, vice president of world-wide talent acquisition for Adobe Systems Inc., who said that during focus groups they facilitate, potential employees are adamant to the fact that would prefer NOT to be contacted via Facebook for jobs and said they (Adobe Systems) have more success finding employees through LinkedIn than they do via Facebook.
Source: online.wsj.com , eMarketer, Don't Look Behind You LinkedIn, Facebook May Be Gaining On You