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Comment by asto | Hacker News Reader

The last thing people would want to do is apply for a job using a personal profile. This would be worse than applying with a foxydude84@hotmail.com address.

Edit: Also, I think they've really lost the plot now and seem to be desperate for the "next big thing".

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Its more like lets try to keep our 30B valuation because if we don't grow up to that level then we go to $5 dollars a share. Everyone on board is motivated to do this.

Exactly. It's a top-down "gonna be the next Google," but in this case, "let's absorb some LinkedIn functionality."

I don't see it as desperation so much as "why not?" It's like a business version of infill:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infill

It's cheap for them to start taking money for job ads and creating a place where they can be accessed, and maybe even recommending jobs based on likes or previous company associations or whatever.

You're right that people will be reluctant at first to apply within FB's domain for a job posting. But think of it from the company's viewpoint: they'll have the same potential access to the targeted demographic data that advertisers do. They could greatly increase the signal to noise ratio in the job apps they get, all the meanwhile letting applicants apply through email.

And as FB becomes a ubiquitous job board, people will get used to it being a part of their lives, and will adjust their profiles accordingly

I've never been in a position to hire anyone, so what sort of demographics would an employer search for?

Employers aren't generally allowed to search for, or look at, most 'demographic' information (age, race, gender, etc.). That's part of the big problem with this...

And as FB becomes a ubiquitous job board, people will get used to it being a part of their lives, and will adjust their profiles accordingly

This kind of fairy-dust reasoning might have sounded plausible pre-IPO.

The thing is that to make a Facebook profile something acceptable to a potential employer, you to not only have to change your entire profile but make your friends tone down all their stuff. Which means essentially changing everything about your profile. And basically you'd put an end to most of the fun that gives anyone an incentive to be on Facebook.

Or you could create a linkedin profile.

What sounds easier?

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