Enterprise Rent-A-Car has launched a Facebook application that will use social media to reach potential candidates through links with existing employees.

The company, which currently employs 300 staff, hopes to use social media to reach and engage with a rich pool of potential recruits and the company is using the application to make it easy to find out about and apply for roles at Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

Ashley Hever, HR manager at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, said: "We pride ourselves on hiring the very best people and then giving them the opportunities to learn and develop business skills rapidly in an exciting and rewarding environment. Our employees are our greatest asset as well as our greatest advocates. Now, with the power of Facebook, we have created an additional recommendation channel for them, which is perfectly in line with their social media habits.

The Facebook application will automatically track when an employee uses it to recommend a job at Enterprise to one of their friends. If that person then applies for a role and is successful, then the recommender will receive an employee referral bonus in line with company policy.

Hever added: "Forward-thinking businesses need to recognise that the way people look for jobs has changed, and adapt accordingly. The ‘Work With Me' application is an important first step into social media that will enable us to maximise the number and quality of candidates we reach.

"This tool has already been a success in the US and our initial trials here in the UK suggest that it will be just as effective on this side of the Atlantic."