Facebook has launched a job hunting app in hopes that its network of more than 1 billion users will help people find their next career opportunity.
Unlike LinkedIn, Facebook has a very hazy boundary between social and professional.
That said, Facebook isn’t actually hosting the job listings. At launch, the app functions more as an aggregated search tool than anything else. Users can find jobs through the app, but once they try to learn more about a job, it points them to another app. The Work4Labs listings, for example, often links back to the hiring company’s Facebook page. If someone wanted to apply for the Head of Lighting position at Cirque Du Soleil, the new Social Jobs app would link to the Cirque Du Soleil hiring page on Facebook. The user would have to access the separate Work4Labs app if they wanted to see if anyone in their network could refer them. Should they want to apply, they would get pointed all the way back to Cirque Du Soleil’s official website.
It’s far from a seamless process, and there are several other glitches (Monster jobs showing up in the Work4Labs page, links going to a company’s Facebook Timeline, etc.). There is a lot of potential for Facebook to connect users to jobs — and create another source of revenue in the process. But in its current state, Facebook’s Social Jobs app is more of an extra side tool than an actual player in the job-hunting space.
Source: gadget lab
