Despite concerns in some quarters about its suitability as a hiring tool for certain specialisms, Facebook, the world’s largest social network, should be seen as having “an opportunity for everyone” in recruitment terms.

This claim is made by Kirsten Smith, the vice president of marketing at Work4 Labs, which itself provides solutions for recruitment through Facebook.

Retail may be one industry where the recruitment opportunity is initially more obvious, Smith tells Recruiter, because retailers in many cases have “already established a great position on Facebook, so it’s a natural next step to add the jobs on there, and it normally then takes off really quickly”. A similar example is true, she adds, of one non-profit organisation Work4 partnered with, which had a large pre-existing fan base.

But she acknowledges that “there are different sectors that require a different focus” – for example, consulting, technology and B2B specialist firms that “didn’t typically have the consumer branding you’d expect on Facebook” when compared to retail. 

Some such companies had also expressed concerns that, in particular for more senior roles, Facebook might not actually be the place to find the candidates required but as Work4 strategic account director Paul Connolly comments to Recruiter: “One of the great misconceptions about Facebook is that it has a much broader demographic than people give is credit for”, with around two-third of users being 35 or older, and nearly half being 45 or older.

Smith tells Recruiter that regardless of the industry, “I think there’s an opportunity for everyone on Facebook”.