On this page
- 01Three ways to put your job on Facebook
- 02The employment category
- 03Image and text do the work
- 04Form or job page
- 05What a job ad costs
- 06Instagram and TikTok
- 07Facebook or LinkedIn for a job
- 08Mistakes we see in job ads on Facebook
- 09If your ad also reaches the EU
- 10Hiring for several sites
- 11Measuring applications per channel
People who are not job hunting still scroll.
Facebook used to have a jobs tab where you posted a vacancy for free. Outside the US and Canada it closed in February 2022. What remains is your page, groups and paid ads, and for ads the employment rules of Meta.
For roles in hospitality, care, logistics, construction and retail, Facebook and Instagram still reach people that job boards miss: people with a job who would switch for better hours or a shorter drive.
Three ways to put your job on Facebook
| Way | Cost | Reach | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Post on your page | free | your followers and whoever shares it | a page reaches few people without shares |
| Share in groups | free | members of local or trade groups | read the group rules; many groups ban job posts |
| Ad | paid | who you choose within the rules | employment category, no age or gender, at least 15 km |
| Instagram, same ad | included | a younger audience | upright image, short text |
Start with a post on your page and ask your team to share it. A colleague who says "we are still looking for someone in the kitchen" works better than a logo with "we are hiring". Groups like "Jobs in Leeds" or "Hospitality jobs Manchester" reach people who are already looking. If a week brings too little response, put budget behind it.
The employment category
A job ad must be marked as a Special Ad Category in Ads Manager. In Europe, the UK included, Meta applies that to employment, housing and financial products, to prevent discrimination in who sees an ad. The result is that you lose a few settings.
| Setting | Normal ad | Job ad |
|---|---|---|
| Age | your choice | fixed at 18 to 65+ |
| Gender | your choice | all genders |
| Location | town or postcode | a radius of at least 15 km, no exclusions |
| Interests | a wide range | a limited list, no exclusions |
| Lookalike audiences | yes | not available |
| Behaviour and demographics | yes | not allowed |
If you leave the category out, Meta can reject the ad or limit your account. What the category means in detail is in Special Ad Category. The law behind it is the same as for any job ad: under the Equality Act 2010 the wording may not exclude people for a protected characteristic. More on that in recruitment advertising.
A job ad in the feed
Who sees the ad
- Category
- Employment
- Location
- Leeds, radius of 15 km or more
- Age
- 25 to 45
- Gender
- Men only
- Postcode
- LS1, LS2, LS6
- Lookalike
- Like our current crew
- Interests
- Construction, workwear, trade shows
For a job ad Meta fixes age at 18 to 65+ and gender at all. The rest of the work sits in the words and the picture.
An example of what we can build, with made-up names.
Image and text do the work
Because you can hardly choose the audience, the ad itself must attract the right people and let the wrong ones scroll on. That starts with the image. A real photo of your kitchen, your warehouse or your team works better than a stock photo of smiling people in suits. A short video of a colleague saying what they do works better still.
- The role in the first line"Chef wanted in York, permanent contract", not "Are you our next hero?".
- What someone earnsA pay range, or at least the hourly rate plus tips.
- Hours"No Sunday evenings" is a reason for a chef to click.
- An easy routeA form with three fields or a link to a short job page.
- No excluding wordsNo age, no "young team", a job title for everyone.
Meta cuts your text after a few lines, and on Instagram sooner. Put your text in the Facebook ad preview to see what someone reads before they tap "See more". The headline under the image can be short: the role and the place.
Form or job page
Meta offers a form inside the ad: the candidate fills in name and phone without leaving Facebook. That brings many responses, and also many people you never reach again. A link to a job page on your site brings fewer, with more motivation. For roles with many candidates a page works better; for scarce profiles the form is a good first step.
| Form in Meta | Job page on your site | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of responses | higher | lower |
| Quality | mixed | higher |
| What you need | a quick call back, within a day | a fast page with pay and an apply button |
| Measuring | in Ads Manager | pixel or Analytics with consent |
Whatever you choose, call people back quickly. A candidate who hears nothing for a week has found another job.
What a job ad costs
You pay per thousand views or per click, like any Meta ad. A hiring campaign in a small area with a broad audience often costs little per view, but the 15 km radius means you pay for people further away as well. Set a budget for two weeks and judge on applications that fit, not on clicks. Typical prices are in Facebook ads cost.
Instagram and TikTok
The same ad can run on Instagram with an upright image or video. TikTok has no employment category in the same form, but the equality law applies just the same. Short videos from the workplace work on both. For TikTok budgets see TikTok ads cost.
Facebook or LinkedIn for a job
LinkedIn reaches office workers, specialists and managers by job title. Facebook reaches everyone else: drivers, chefs, carers, warehouse staff and technicians, often closer to home. Many employers run both, with LinkedIn for one role and Facebook for another; see how to post a job on LinkedIn.
Mistakes we see in job ads on Facebook
| Mistake | What happens | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| No employment category | the ad is rejected or the account restricted | mark it as a special ad category from the start |
| "Young, dynamic team" | an age preference in the text, against the Equality Act | describe the work and the team, not the age |
| A stock photo | people scroll past, the ad looks like every other | a real photo or a short video from the workplace |
| No pay | fewer clicks, more unsuitable applicants | a range or an hourly rate |
| A form nobody follows up | candidates hear nothing and take another job | a call back within a day |
| One ad for months | the same people see it again and again | a new image or angle every few weeks |
If your ad also reaches the EU
For ads shown in the EU, Meta asks who benefits from the ad and who pays for it, and both names appear in the Ad Library. A UK employer hiring only in the UK does not run into this, but an agency recruiting in Ireland or the Netherlands does. Fill in the legal names, not a brand or a page name.
Hiring for several sites
A company with depots or shops in several towns needs one ad set per area, each with its own radius of at least 15 km and its own text: "Warehouse operative in Doncaster" works better than "Warehouse jobs across Yorkshire". Where areas overlap, the 15 km rule means the same person may see two ads; that is fine as long as the role and place differ. Group roles that share an area, and keep separate budgets for the sites that are hardest to fill.
Measuring applications per channel
Tag each link with the UTM builder, so you see which post, group or ad brought the people you hired. The Meta pixel on your careers page needs consent first; see the Meta pixel and UK cookie law.
Questions about jobs on Facebook
Does Facebook Jobs still exist?
Not in the UK or the EU. Facebook closed the jobs feature outside the US and Canada in February 2022. You can still post on your page, in groups and with ads.
Can I target young people with a job ad?
No. In the employment category the age range is fixed at 18 to 65+, and the Equality Act forbids age preferences in the ad text as well.
Can I post a job in a Facebook group?
Yes, if the group rules allow it. Many local and trade groups have a day or a thread for jobs.