Rumor has it that Facebook will launch a job board later this summer. The service would aggregate job postings of third-party providers to enable users to view the posts on the Facebook site. Three job-posting companies that currently use Facebook as part of their offerings (BranchOut, Jobvite, and Work4Labs) are expected to be involved in the new initiative.
The media is already speculating about what this could mean to the other social job boards -- mainly LinkedIn -- and how Facebook’s product will compete. However, what keeps me up at night is not the competition, but whether today’s recruiters are prepared for the lightning-speed recruitment process that might ensue.
Job postings being published on users’ News Feeds will instantly be pushed out to Facebook’s 900 million-plus users -- compared to LinkedIn’s 175 million members. We are talking incredible volume.
So what does this mean to the recruitment world? In order to prepare, recruiters need to engage in an open dialogue with their leadership teams. Here are four suggestions for where to start.
- Revisit your recruitment workflow. The immediate input of talent into recruiters’ work stations might require more virtual recruiting support, such as a recruitment process outsourcing supplier, that can manage the traffic and prescreen applicants to the minimum qualifications.
- Consider the latest tools and technology for online interviewing and interview scheduling. The interview process will need to keep pace with the speed of screening.
- Ensure job postings are specific to the skills needed and include expectations around timing of next steps and instructions for how to apply.
- Re-establish realistic metrics that measure recruiters’ performance against instant candidate match.
In the time leading up to the launch of the service, enjoy the calm, but don’t forget to make all of the necessary preparations so you can hit the ground running.
