The world's favorite method of searching the internet has finally come to Facebook!

No, not Google. Facebook is still partnered up with Bing, as Bing+ does not exist, so the search engine poses zero threat to FB's manhood network.

I'm talking about that wonderfully useful little symbol, the hashtag.

Google Plus' introduction of hashtags to their user interface seems to have lit a fire under the posteriors of our friends over at Facebook. They've rolled out hashtags in full force for all Facebook users, including those using mobile!

Reception has been surprisingly warm and devoid of the backlash FB interface upgrades usually receive. We're all pretty happy about it here at Jobcast and so, it seems, is the rest of the social recruiting world. If I remember correctly, my exact reaction upon hearing the news was “finally”. Okay, so that's not exactly warm, but, tardy or not, I'm happy that Facebook has jumped on the hashtag train. Yay hashtags!

Why are we so happy about hashtags?

Besides making it easier to search for posts about teacup-kittens, it's because we care about you. Seriously. The addition of hashtags to FB's interface is awesome for recruiting and employer branding. Which is, in turn, awesome for Jobcasters!

No, it's not going to revolutionize recruiting or anything like that, but it will make it easier for candidates to find your content, and for you to find theirs.

How you ask? Well…

Hashtags included in status updates and wall posts are clickable, thus hashtags provide a means of grouping messages. You can search for a hashtag to view a set of related messages all containing that tag. This means your hashtagged posts will be linked to other similarly tagged posts, creating a sort of conversation.

For example, if you click on #RyanGosling, you'll instantly see all of the “Hey Girl” posts made by people in your network, assuming they are doing their hashtag duty, of course.

(Facebook is a closed network so, if you click on a #hashtag, you’ll only be able to see conversations started by users in your network. Just another reason you should build up your Facebook talent community!)

More importantly, if you are looking to hire a new server for your restaurant, you can hashtag your job posts #serverwanted or #nowhiring, thus making your post clickable. This means users will see your post when they search those terms. You can also use hashtags to improve your overall reach and employer brand in a similar fashion.

Pretty darn cool. Especially because you don't even have to change your recruiting strategy to start using this new feature.

Just start hashtagging keywords, locations, and terms related to your industry.

Let's go back to our restaurant example. We’ll call our hypothetical restaurant Sam's Waffle House (my article, my restaurant! And waffles because they are the best, obviously).

Here are a few ideas for content I could share on my branded Facebook Career Page:

Sam's #Waffle House #restaurant is looking to #hire a new #linecook at our #Gastown location in #Vancouver #applynow

or

Click here to see our #delicious new #restaurant #menu items, including a #hotfudge #sunday #waffle and #peanutbutter #milkshake

and

Looking for #work as a #server at an #upscale #restaurant ? Sam's #Waffle House is #hiring. Make #great #tips and enjoy a #fun work #atmosphere

You can also include hashtags at the end of your posts. Either in addition to posts like the ones shown above or to non-hashtagged posts if you prefer to keep your content free of tags, as some do. Use whichever format appeals to you and, as usually, experiment with different tags and setups until you find what works.

For example:

Check out all of the great jobs available for servers, and hostesses at Sam's Waffle House in Vancouver. Go to our Career Page and apply now!#nowhiring #hiring #needajob #apply #lookingforwork #serviceindustry #jobs #hostess #server #restaurant #Vancouver #downtown #kitsilano

Don't worry too much about overtagging if your main goal is letting people know you're hiring. What's important is that you use , the jobs you need filled, and your location.

Here are some more tips about using Facebook hashtags to improve your reach.

FB just keeps adding more cool stuff for employers and recruiters to supplement their Facebook recruiting arsenal. Graph search is proving to be a great tool for sourcing passive candidates and hashtags look to be equally promising.

These new features go hand-in-hand with Facebook encouraging users to share more of their salient information such as skills, education, and interests, that employers can use to build talent communities and source candidates. Not only that, but the social network's userbase is expanding, as are the numbers of users using Facebook specifically to hunt for jobs.

It's a pretty exciting time for Facebook recruiting, which makes us especially happy to be able to offer the best Facebook Recruiting App on the market.

Click here to start recruiting with Facebook right now.

“I have been using a lot of tools for online/social recruiting, Jobcast is by far the BEST. Thanks guys for this great tool! Looking forward to the upcoming features!” – Ruben A. Rabines