August 8, 2011 4:39 PM EDT
A growing number of companies are mining Facebook for new employees, shunning both conventional means like job postings and competitors like LinkedIn, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The approach includes both posting new job openings on a company Facebook page and getting in contact with potential hires through their profiles, both recognitions of the potency of tapping into Facebook's more than 750 million users. Even Facebook's competitors acknowledge that the company is transforming the world of online job-hunting.
"While I wish every company used Monster, social is a solution that many people are using," said Matt Mund, Monster.com's vice president of product management. Mund said Monster has already launched its own Facebook app and is incentivizing it by having companies offer cash rewards to employees who recruit new people through the app.
But there is a downside to recruiters' newfound zeal. LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner said in a conference call that the business networking site was founded on the premise that people like to keep their social and professional lives distinct. Jeff Vijungco, vice president of worldwide talent acquisition for Adobe Systems Inc., said focus group participants typically rejected the idea of being contacted for a job through Facebook.
"The antibodies kicked in pretty quickly," Vijungco said. "They thought it was very invasive."
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Whether or not people like their Facebook profiles being intertwined with their job prospects, a recent analysis by ExecuNet found that 77 percent of managers vet candidates through social media.
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