I just finished reading this post about using Facebook Advertising to get noticed by employers and network your way to a dream job. Has anyone in the design community tried this? I’m a bit skeptical, but willing to try anything. I’m wondering how this will look to potential employers and the possible positive and negative responses it might elicit. Thanks.
Thanks for the share. I might have to try this before long…
Can’t see this working. Professionals don’t use facebook for recruiting. LinkedIn Maybe…
R
The way I see it working is by:
- Ads are seen by employees at the companies.
- employees click on the ad, which redirects to your linkedin profile.
- employees…
(a) contact you directly and passing on relevant info.
(b) pass on your info to relevant people.
(c) or HR / People in hiring positions see the ad and initiate contact with you.
The ads are served to people that have for example “ideo” or “frog design”, etc… in their current or past employment section on facebook.
For the price it doesn’t seem like that bad of an idea in order to get your name out to relevant people (assuming they click on the targeted ad). If they don’t click on the ad then you don’t get charged.
Does anyone actually click on ads is the bigger question? Given all the spammy ads on facebook for “singles in you area” and the like I get the feeling people just automatically ignore all ads. I guess the billion dollar web ad industry says otherwise but I don’t think I’ve ever clicked on any ad anywhere.
R
I think I’ve clicked on a total of 2 ads in the whole time I’ve used facebook. Most of the time I ignore all ads. I think it would catch my attention if the ad directly targeted a place I work at.
Here are the numbers from one guy’s ad:
- Number of times ad was displayed: 2,588
- Number of times ad was clicked: 32
- Cost of ad: $5.12
Results of ad:
- 5 emails from current and past employees of targeted company.
- 1 informal phone interview.
That’s not too bad.
Hell, I would gladly spend the money in order to get at some of the companies I want to work for.
I tend to agree, R. How do we feel about Facebook for business? I’ve noticed that quite a few people (freelancers or design consultancies like mine) now have Facebook pages for their business, but often it is a mirror image of their blog and not telling me anything I don’t know already.
I also observed that the kind of people that become fans of these pages are more often than not friends or people not already in the trade. (I.e not the businesses you wish to target).
Then there are a few footwear groups, again, if any work is offered, it can be a bit ‘dodgy’ comission only, Craigslist type gigs, not for pros, more a place for new designers to show their portfolios.
I don’t really feel that Facebook is the place for business, it feels wrong, too casual, yet I am constantly being told it is the place to market onesself.
I don’t want to market my professional image on Facebook, my profile is private and it’s how I stay in touch with friends, not business associates.
Ditto everything you’ve said. If someone from business tries to friend me, it makes me instantly lower my impression of them.
R
I don’t really feel that Facebook is the place for business, it feels wrong, too casual, yet I am constantly being told it is the place to market onesself.
“Sarah wants to send you pictures.”
Enough said . . ?
Exactly! Like all user generated content sites, you have to moderate that content. Your business page ain’t gonna look so great once ‘Sarah’ has spammed it with her pictures. 
Facebook can be great for business! Maybe not design consultancies, studios or freelance. But if your business relies on attracting consumers/readers/customers etc then Facebook Fan Pages are great, and a lot different and separate to your personal Facebook page.
I consider myself an advanced internet users, therefore I’m immune to the majority of web advertising. Though I must admit, Facebook’s page recommendations has resulted in a click-through on numerous occasions. Considering they know so much about me, I’d expect them to get it right though.
As for Facebook getting you a job, it can, it got me 2 internships. One connecting with alumni and another a job advertised on a group I had started. Though I wouldn’t go round messaging hordes of people as you would with email, peoples perception of how private their Facebook is vary’s from person to person. It’s pretty interesting really and a topic in its self, usually boiling down to generation, experience with the internet and personal ethics/beliefs etc.
I do know one thing though, if you’re as creative as this guy, you’ll have no problem…
^^^^ Awesome. Another one of those, why didn’t I think of that moments.
Awesome, maybe good for people at the start of their career and for internships, but inappropriate for me.
Well done to him, though- very resourceful.
Thanks for the share! That’s the type of success I think could be possible when doing some of these little ads.
For $6 he got:
5 - Targeted ad campaigns
4 - Interviews
2 - Job offers
That’s pretty impressive results. He does have some fun work to back up his ad.