Following the example of LinkedIn, Facebook has designed a feature that allows you to add your Professional Skills to the Work and Education section of your Facebook timeline. This doesn’t mean that you need to stop whatever you’re doing and rush onto Facebook to add your skills, and you probably don’t need to have your employees drop everything they’re doing, either. But adding your professional skills to your Facebook timeline is something you should do when you have the opportunity. Why?
Obviously, you want your Facebook profile to be complete. But here’s another good reason to add your professional skills: Facebook users are beginning to use Facebook’s Graph Search feature as a partial substitute or replacement for Google. A Facebook user looking to hire someone with a specific skill or occupation can run a query with Graph Search, and your name may appear.
To include your professional skills on your Facebook profile, go to your “About” section. You’ll see “Professional Skills” in the Work and Education area. Click the Edit button and you’ll be able to add you skills. What you can add is limited to the skills that Facebook displays as you start to key in an entry, but don’t be alarmed; professionals will be pleased to know there are plenty of sub-categories. Attorneys, for example, can type in Criminal Law, Immigration Law, Real Estate Law, or a number of other options.
Despite what you may read and hear, you shouldn’t dismiss Facebook as a marketing tool. It’s simply too big, too popular, and used far too often to ignore. With the internet at their fingertips, potential clients are doing more research than ever, and Facebook is one of the first places they go. Facebook’s Graph Search feature is likely to enhance consumer research and encourage more, so be sure you’re taking advantage of everything that Facebook can offer.
