Thursday, September 23, 2010

Facebook’s Job Search App — BranchOut

We know Facebook is the No. 1 visited site in the U.S. We also know that Americans spent the most time on Facebook as compared to other websites. However, when it comes to job search, we all go to LinkedIn.
With the attempt to maximize the utility of a Facebook user’s connections, which may also be referred to as a person’s social capital, Facebook introduced a job search app called BranchOut (http://superfan.com/). I signed up for the service and gave it a trial. BranchOut is very much like LinkedIn in this stage. With this app, I can see a list of companies in which my friends work or worked before, my friends’ work histories, post a job for free, refer a friend to a position (with bonuses), and invite my friends’ to join the network. I believe I am the first one among my network who has added this app.
We discussed how people may lose their jobs because of Facebook posts and how people can manage their online reputations before. I believe BranchOut will bring Facebook to a more professional level. Because Facebook is so important in people’s lives already, BranchOut may become another important job search tool soon, which means Facebook users need to be even more careful of what they post on Facebook. So, what do you think about BranchOut? As a manager, will you use BranchOut to recruit staff? As a regular Facebook user, will you use BranchOut to search for jobs?

Original Article and additional career advice.

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