How to pitch yourself for a job posting on Facebook groups
I’ll admit that I don’t really use Facebook these days.
Well, I do, but not to share pictures of my cat, or the burrito I had for lunch. I use the platform — specifically Facebook groups — for business. I’m in at least six active groups for female entrepreneurs.
If you’re running a business like me, you’re probably in quite a few groups too, and spend 80% of your time there scouring the posts looking for interesting learning content, collaborations, even work assignments.
Very often, I see someone looking to hire via a Facebook post and getting 283 comments within a couple of hours.
But a lot of the comments read like this:
“Hi, interested!”
“Hello, I’m so-and-so. You can see more on my website here.”
Now, as a potential hirer with an absolute FLOOD of applicants to cherry-pick from, would you even respond to those comments?
Nope.
Put yourself in the hirer’s shoes. Time is a precious, precious commodity — hence the post looking for help — and they won’t be responding to a comment like that, because of the following reasons:
They don’t want to have to do the extra work of going to your profile, visiting your website, looking for your portfolio and rates, then finally messaging you.
Posting the bare minimum communicates laziness and/or lack of real enthusiasm for the job. It’s definitely not what you intended, but it comes across that way.
So how do you construct a response that will get you noticed?
1. Show that you share a similar vision.
First, do your own homework by looking at the context of the job offer. Go to the hirer’s website, and see if what they do resonates with you.
In your response, you should include what you love about their work. It shows that you’re diligent and proactive enough to check out if you’re a good fit, and potential employers love that. It creates an instant emotional response on the employer’s part.
2. Share, specifically and descriptively, what you can do for them.
Second, share specifically how you can help them in descriptive language. If they’re looking for a bookkeeper, something along the lines of “I can help to take on the nitty-gritty of recording expenses and income, creating the balance sheet, and giving it all to you in a comprehensive report so you don’t have to lift a finger” sounds a lot better than “I can help you with bookkeeping!”
The key here is to create a vision for how sweet life can be for them with you onboard.
3. Demonstrate your expertise.
Next, include any social proof you might have. If you’ve helped others like this specific employer before, let them know. If this is your niche or you’ve written a blog post on this subject, tell them. This is the part where you demonstrate your expertise. You can include your website at this point, with a specific link leading to your services or testimonials page, not just the overall website link.
4. Include your starting rate and point of contact.
Finally, include your starting rate and how they can reach out to you. It’s essential to tell them upfront how much you cost, because it’ll save a lot of time on everyone’s part going back and forth about pricing. A starting price doesn’t give too much away to your competitors, but tells the hirer a ballpark figure so if they reach out to you, you know that they’re okay with your rate.
Putting Together An Example
An example response to a post from a women’s business coach looking to hire a bookkeeper would be:
“Hi! I checked out your website and absolutely love the work that you do — I believe in empowering women and think it’s great that you work with stay-home moms. I can help you to take on the nitty-gritty of recording income and expenses, delivering a comprehensive report to you each month, and helping you with the taxes. I’ve worked with two other coaches like you and am confident I can bring the same value to your work. You can check out my services here - (link). My starting rate is at $300 a month, and you can DM me if this looks like a good fit for you!”
A lot better than “interested”, don’t you think? This will definitely help you stand out and get noticed in the sea of generic comments, and dramatically increase the likelihood of getting hired.
Comment or DM?
You can send this response as a comment or as a DM, but a word of caution: some groups don’t allow unsolicited messaging, so only send a DM if the hirer requested it in their initial post. If you do send a DM, it’s also good practice to then comment to say you’ve sent a message, so they’re aware that it’s in their inbox and will check their spam if necessary.
As with all other communications, practise, practise, practise. Over time, you’ll develop a style and template of your own that you can shoot out to different job postings.
the author
Hi, I’m Melody! I help creative entrepreneurs make money by streamlining their communications and building a brand that their clients like and trust.
categories
search
