How to Recruit and Source on Facebook

Posted by Jonathan Kidder on February 13, 2020January 28, 2023

Facebook is an untapped gold mine when it comes to recruiting and sourcing talent across the web. Basically, it’s a massive database of millions of people. The trouble is, many recruiters don’t know how to approach using it for such. I wanted to create a basic guide into the world of sourcing Facebook.

Below is a step-by-step guide that will help empower you to source on Facebook.

1. Sourcing Public Profiles

Use the Facebook search option to find users (and company pages) that may represent potential candidates. With powerful search functions, you can find people based on location, work experience, education, employers, and even languages.

Unfortunately, Facebook Graph Search was shut down in August 2019. You can still search for basic things on Facebook. Once you find someone, reach out to them via Facebook or cross-reference their information to find them on LinkedIn or another platform. Don’t panic – there’s a tool to do graph searches (here).

You can still use Boolean to search public Facebook profiles:

site:facebook.com (present AROUND(10) Teacher) AND (Texas OR “TX”) -inurl:posts -inurl:photos -inurl:groups -inurl:events

Below I’ve included tools to find and source leads on Facebook:

Facebook Osint Search Tools:

Scraping Facebook for URL Profiles and Groups:

I’ve written several posts about scraping on Facebook in the past. So, I’ll be brief with my suggestions below:

Dig Scraper – Use this to scrape individual profiles or Facebook groups.
Zapinfo – Use this to scrap individual profiles and cross-reference for contact info.
Facebook Audience Blaster – scrape Facebook groups and find valuable intel.
SwordFish Extension – scrape Facebook groups and find contact details on leads.

How to DM someone:

Keep it short and sweet. Don’t go into too much detail on the exact openings. Rather, treat Facebook like a relationship-building tool. Try and connect with them on various topics and try and build a connection through similar interests. Don’t treat the platform like LinkedIn.

For example:

Hi Eric, I was impressed by your discussions in the xamarin iOS group and wanted to connect with you directly. I’m a tech recruiter in Minneapolis and we share some similar connections. I would like the chance to connect and learn more about what you’re working on at Target.

2. Create a Facebook Page

Likely, you already have a corporate page with your company that you can use to recruit on Facebook, but you can also open a new profile and start a brand new page, known as your company’s “Career” page. The Career page will host content targeted entirely towards people potentially interested in a job, separating the recruiting side from the corporate side, which is targeted at your company’s clients.

3. Establish a Company Culture (Employer Brand)

Your company’s work culture will do major things for your employer brand. Use your Career page to showcase your company’s wonderful work culture and have your employees share their own experiences. This will turn into a form of social recruitment where people will reach out to you wanting to interact with your company solely because of how your photos, videos, and stories portray the culture there. I recommend connecting with Work4labs. They have many Facebook career page tools and products.

4. Launch a Recruiting Ad

While writing a great Facebook ad deserves a guide within itself, this concept is definitely one you should look into. Launching a Facebook recruiting campaign will allow you to quickly and effectively reach targeted groups of people, enabling you to reach as many potential candidates as possible. Some of the best advice you can take when using this method is injecting all the personality you can into your campaign. Remember the importance of employer branding. I wrote an article about creating a job advertisement (here).

5. Promote Your Job Ad

Many people don’t realize that they can promote their Facebook job ad for free. Aside from sharing it on your Facebook page, you can also share it with relevant Facebook groups where you should frequently talk about your employer brand and recruitment opportunities. Additionally, you can have your partners and colleagues share the ad themselves, helping it reach even more people.

Another free way to promote a recruitment opportunity is with Facebook Marketplace. The Marketplace is where people go to buy and sell items within their community, and while there is no dedicated category for job listings, many savvy recruiters are already using it to find candidates.

6. Use Facebook Live

Finally, another under-utilized tactic when reporting on Facebook is the Facebook Live feature. With this feature, you can use live chats on your Career page along with a live video to introduce your team, explain various recruitment opportunities, and answer candidates’ questions, all while engaging them in a very lively way. Best of all, this tactic is completely free as well!

Need more Facebook Tools suggestions? I wrote another article about that (here).

Tips to Improve your Recruiting Cold Calls

How to Source and Recruit on Instagram

Follow me

Jonathan Kidder

With more than 12 years of recruitment experience, Jonathan has helped startups and small businesses find the talent they need. He runs the blog WizardSourcer, which explores the latest trends in talent sourcing, provides reviews of recruitment tools, and features interviews with prominent figures in the industry.