Global job board Monster is to launch a professional networking platform on Facebook, which looks set to compete with the LinkedIn social network.
The Facebook application, called BeKnown, will enable Facebook’s users to make professional connections that are distinct from their friends, while also discovering job opportunities and controlling their professional identity.
Darko Dejanovic, global chief information officer and head of product at Monster Worldwide said: “BeKnown answers the need and challenge in the marketplace for people to build their professional networks on Facebook while keeping personal and work-related contacts and content completely separate.”
Speaking to Personnel Today, David Henry, vice president of media and digital marketing in Europe, said BeKnown would “bring professional networking to the masses”. Facebook has almost 700 million users across a broad demographic, compared to LinkedIn’s 100 million mainly professional users.
With BeKnown, users on Facebook will be able to invite contacts from other social networks to expand their BeKnown network beyond their existing Facebook friends. They will be able to see which of their professional contacts is connected to a company or job opportunity they are interested in. They will also be able to import their Monster profile to BeKnown and search for jobs from within the app.
BeKnown users will also be able to recommend people, but besides the general recommendations that users can create in LinkedIn, they will be able to endorse other users’ abilities around specific skills such as leadership or creativity.
Next month, Monster will also launch its social referral programme, where BeKnown users will receive cash rewards for referring their professional contacts to particular jobs. Employers will also be able to claim and manage their profile in BeKnown, which users will also be able to follow, and be alerted to new job opportunities as they become available.
Monster-commissioned research carried out this month found that 62% of workers in the UK are concerned about mixing friends and professional contacts on social networks. And two-fifths (41%) have had, or know someone that has had, problems as a result of work colleagues seeing the content of their social network page.
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The BeKnown app will be available for download in 19 different languages, and is accessible by any Facebook user.
