Social networks are becoming more and more essential thanks to all the possibilities they offer, just as Facebook does by allowing you to find work within the platform.
There are many ways you can accomplish this, whether it is by joining groups, keeping an eye on page posts or applying directly to company profiles. In order to increase your chances of finding a job, you must make the most of each of the available tools.
Your next job, client, or project can be on Facebook.
How To Search And Land Projects From Facebook
On Facebook, there are different ways to find good proposals or potential clients. If you use more than one way, you have a much better chance of finding a worthwhile job opportunity.
1. Facebook Jobs
Next to sections such as Marketplace, Groups, and Videos, you will find the jobs section. There you will find many offers from different clients or companies that surely fit what you are looking for.
You can filter the search according to location, hourly, monthly or annual salary, type, and category of employment.
The job offers include a description so that you know what it is about, the type of working day (half or full) and from there you can apply by clicking on “send application”.
You can also configure and activate job alerts so that you know when there is a new opportunity.
2. Facebook Groups
On Facebook, there is a very varied number of groups, where you will inevitably find a group related to your work niche.
Belonging to one of these groups can take your freelance career to the next level as it offers many benefits. Here you can connect with people who work in the same niche and those people can connect you with other potential clients.
Thanks to the publications, you can keep up to date with everything that happens related to your work area and of course you can also find job offers.
In these groups, you can also introduce yourself, and make known who you are, what you do, what experience you have.
By doing so, you will not go unnoticed and people can take you into account in case they need a freelancer with your characteristics. However, just by posting one day, you will not make yourself known.
If you manage to share interesting content frequently, participate in conversations, and contribute useful things to the group, your reputation within it will improve and therefore also your professional image.
Avoid getting involved in discussions that generate enmity and try to make yourself known as a friendly person who is willing to help. That will improve your job opportunities.
3. Facebook Pages
On this social network, you can find pages dedicated to covering certain topics and some of those can focus on your job niche or they can be pages exclusively dedicated to publishing job offers.
Follow pages that are related to your work and so you can keep up to date with news and offers.
In the comments section of the publications of these pages, you are also likely to be able to find people who are looking for a service or help in some task.
Keep an eye on the interactions that occur in each post and offer your services when appropriate and necessary.
4. Company Profiles
You can be sure that every major company has a Facebook profile. In this social network, you can search for the companies that interest you and follow them, since through their profile many publish vacancies every time they need to hire staff.
Also, you can keep checking their profile frequently to see if they have published something new that is interesting to you, or you can even contact them on your own through their direct messaging.
That way you can start to establish a connection with them, send them your CV, and show yourself willing to work with them.
8 Recommendations To Get Projects
Here are several tips that will help you. They are not a rule that you must follow but they will certainly improve your job search.
1. New Account Or Adapt Your Own?
The first thing you have to do is create a Facebook account destined only for one use: looking for work. That is, you cannot use it to put photos of your social life.
You also have the option of adapting the one you have for this purpose, which will mean that you must ‘clean’ it from posts that you may not be very proud of and that can compromise you professionally speaking.
2. Name And Photo
The next step is for the username to be your full name. That brings seriousness and professionalism. The photo that accompanies the profile must also be serious, adapted to the objective: to find a job.
This means no photos with a drink in hand, or smoking, or in a swimsuit on the beach. It does not necessarily have to be in a suit, just be serious and formal, and convey your personality as much as possible.
3. Your Data
Provide an email with which they can contact you and fill in everything related to training, studies, and work (experience), as a resume so that everyone can see it. You can share more photos and videos.
Configure your profile to appear on Google, Bing, and Yahoo! This is very useful. Imagine that you have sent a CV to a company, and whoever receives it wants to search your name on Google.
Their intention with this is to find more personal data about you. With Facebook, you can use this to your advantage.
You just have to enable the public search of your profile (settings/privacy / who can find me). So your name and your Facebook account will appear when someone searches for you on search engines.
4. Friends
In case you have chosen the option to create a new Facebook account, choose the friends you add carefully: be sure that they are only related to work and your professional activity.
If, on the other hand, you have preferred to adapt the account you already had, select each friend from the work environment one by one and add them to a new list that you can call ‘professional’. Also, join groups about job offers in your sector, it is likely that there are dozens.
5. Publications
Now you should start interacting with your contacts through posts, sharing interesting content, and also ‘selling yourself’ in a subtle way.
If you have your work friends in a separate list, select in your post that you only want that group to see it.
It is convenient that the publications can not only be seen by your friends but are public so that anyone can see you.
Since the content you are going to share is ‘serious’, you do not have to worry that everyone can see it.
6. Participate
Actively participate in the publications of your contacts, that they see that you are active and that you are interested in the work matters they are talking about.
Follow pages that suit you (companies where you would like to work in case they publish job offers or pages about employment), and even request the friendship of people in your sector even if you do not know them personally.
Of course, explain them before through a direct message that you are professionally interested in their contents, and that you would like to establish a contact for it.
Participation requires that you have your account more or less active, which requires time to dedicate to Facebook.
7. Use The Search Engine
The Facebook search engine is very useful. So far you have used it to try to find old friends or classmates from school, institute or university.
But if you indicate searches such as “job offers” or similar, you are going to get a pleasant surprise. Groups or postings of offers to work in jobs of all kinds will appear.
8. Get A Portfolio Website
A portfolio website is a place where you can display all the work you have done previously and thus show your experience.
Having a portfolio website will make clients perceive you as a professional freelancer.
Apart from work samples on your website, you can include testimonials and recommendations from previous clients, as well as blog posts where you talk about your experience, creative processes, and other topics of interest.
If you wonder how to build a portfolio, the answer is that it does not have to be as complicated as you imagine.
There are many platforms like Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress that make all of this a lot easier.
With a portfolio website, you can give much more exposure to your work and it is even possible that clients will contact you through it. As soon as you have it , you can include the link to your portfolio in your Facebook profile.
Mistakes to Avoid
1. Accepting Offers That Seem Too Good To Believe
You should bear in mind that Facebook only provides its jobs section to function as a portal where anyone can post a vacancy, but they do not do the same work that a job platform would do: review each vacancy carefully and verify who publishes it.
While you will surely come across very desirable job proposals, there will also be others with bad intentions behind them.
Do not be fooled by openings that offer a lot of money for small assignments, overly generous payments, or that guarantee to hire you without first interviewing you.
2. Not Doing Research About The Company
As you already know, you should be careful with who offers you a good job. For you to define whether to apply or not, you must investigate who publishes the offer, or if it is a client, ask them questions about their project and work experience.
If the company does not have a website, social networks, or profile on LinkedIn, it is not a good sign of trustworthiness.
On the other hand, if the company has all that and it can even show you reviews and recommendations of previous employees, it is a company or client with whom you can work.
3. Paying To Get A Job
This is a very common way in which many freelancers are scammed.
The situation is as follows: the employer will propose a job offer that looks promising in the long term and may even invite you to read an extensive guide on what the job is about.
But in the end, they can tell you that because some freelancers accept the work and then leave it, they ask for a deposit of a certain amount of dollars that they will return when you meet the first milestone of the job.
Of course, they will disappear after having your money. Keep in mind that no reputable company would ask you for something like that to start working with them.
Other Platforms You Can Use
1. LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a social network specifically for professional use.
In addition to having several sections or utilities that make this platform a multifunctional and very useful tool if you want to move in the professional world, position your profile, increase your network contacts, among many other things.
Having an active profile on this platform will increase your chances of being invited to a job offer.
It is necessary that in your profile you include the link to your portfolio website so that the companies that visit it can see your work.
Without a doubt, it is a social network in which you must be present if you want to boost your freelance career, so if you want to know how to do it, you should learn about how to find contract work on LinkedIn.
2. Upwork
Upwork is one of the most used freelance platforms to get a job, and it has approximately 12 million users.
Without a doubt, it is a platform where you must be present and with which you will benefit. Here you can find attractive projects and the page offers you many possibilities for your professional growth.
In Upwork, you can create your portfolio to show your work and as you carry out projects, you will earn a reputation that will make you stand out among other freelancers on the platform.
If you also make sure you put together a good profile and portfolio, it is likely that clients will be in charge of contacting you on their own instead of you approaching them.
3. Fiverr
In Fiverr, freelancers make their profiles where they write the type of services they offer along with samples of their work. Hirers are simply looking for freelancers that best suit their needs.
The clients can visit the profiles of freelancers and transparently view their profiles, work samples, and reviews of previous collaborators making the decision easier.
Prices start at $5 but some enhanced services or high-quality work can be priced much higher than that.
The good thing about the millions of users on Fiverr is that there will always be someone interested in what you offer, and when you make sales you will receive a rating that will make you level up, the more levels you go up, the more sales you can make successfully.
4. Freelancer
Being part of Freelancer.com is very simple, you just have to sign in with your Facebook or Gmail account and that is it.
By joining the page you will immediately have a free membership that will allow you to search for work and apply or create offers, it depends on the profile you have on the page.
While not all the clients you will find on Freelancer.com have a professional reputation, there are a lot of people looking to hire someone with your skills.
When you are starting your career as a freelancer it can be difficult to find your first job because there is a lot of competition, and you may not have much experience (or zero experience).
However, this platform is an excellent place to find your first clients.
5. PeoplePerHour
PeoplePerHour mixes the famous project model (client applies, freelance applies) similar to the Upwork platform, with the gigs model (pre-packaged services) such as Fiverr.
The concept comes from the idea that the activities to be carried out usually take little time and that they could be done in a few hours.
Areas such as graphic design, web development, and audiovisual media such as photography or video are the niches that are most demanded on this platform.
However, there are also many other diverse areas where clients seek freelancers to work on their projects.
Facebook Is A Good Place To Find Job Offers
This social network offers you possibilities that go far beyond simply sharing your social life.
With the jobs section, you can find your next job opportunity or your new client. If you want to grow professionally, you need to use all the tools you have at hand and Facebook is one of them, since it is possible to find jobs in groups, pages, and company profiles.
No matter what option you use to explore vacancies, you will need to be persistent and consistent to find the best offer for you. It is worth investing time on this platform.