Branchout = Facebook Plus Linkedin Divided By Job Search

Branchout, a new application that helps job seekers makes Facebook work like Linkedin opened in beta this week. Branchout helps Facebook users leverage their network for job search in a similar way that’s common to Linkedin users.

Why is this important? There are a number of reasons – for starters, Facebook just passed 500 million users making it more than 7 times larger than Linkedin.

Besides the obvious advantage of size, Branchout can bring some additional advantages over Linkedin. I talked to founder Rick Marini to learn more.

How Branchout Can Help Your Job Search:

I’m not suggesting that Branchout replace your Linkedin network. It’s still in it’s infancy (it was just launched this week) and it grows more powerful as it gets added to more users Facebook networks. But even in it’s infancy, you can gain a surprising amount of job search information from your Facebook friends that can be very useful in your search.

I had the opportunity to interview founder Rick Marini, founder of Branchout. Rick is also the CEO of SuperFan, and former CEO of Tickle.com an early social media quiz website (before selling it to Monster.com). Having worked for Monster for 4 years after selling Tickle, Rick’s been at the intersection of job search and social media for a while.

Branchout allows Facebook users to identify friends that work at a specific company and ask them for job or networking help. While this is similar to one of Linkedin’s main uses, there are some important differences.

Rick was kind enough to explain some of the advantages of Branchout. “Some people prefer communicating through Facebook, and use it as their major networking tool. For example, Branchout is useful for people just graduating from of college with large Facebook networks – but who would have to starting building a network from scratch on Linkedin.” Rick makes an interesting point here, as Facebook is 7 times larger than Linkedin – making it easy to see that there are many people who don’t use Linkedin, but who might still need help finding their next job.

While Branchout isn’t a fully featured Linkedin (let’s call it Linkedin-lite), the app hits the central values of Linkedin – the ability to search for companies, discover which of your contacts work there, and then communicate with them.

Rick added “While Linkedin is strictly a professional network, for many users personal and professional networks have merged on Facebook.” For instance, Rick personally uses Facebook as his contact list.

“If you’re really looking for a job opportunity, you’ll probably want to use more options than just your professional network, including your personal and family connections – more likely found on Facebook.” Rick mentioned some additional advantages as “ … some users have a bigger network on Facebook than on Linkedin and can use Branchout immediately to discover Facebook friends who work at a specific company – rather than investing significant time building a Linkedin network. In addition, with Facebook there are better communication tools than on Linkedin.”

( Continued … Major differences, Advantages, and How to use Branchout in job search )

By Phil Rosenberg, ReCareered