CareerBuilder, Jobster, Yahoo HotJobs and JobsinPods.com are among those developing Facebook applications in hopes of helping recruiters and hiring managers reach out to some 41 million active users of the popular site.

Many experts consider Facebook the leading Generation Y networking platform, not only for its reach but also because of the audience it attracts. Facebook’s fastest-growing demographic is people 25 years or older. More than half of the site’s users are out of college and many are seeking full-time jobs in a career-oriented environment, which makes them a coveted workforce group among employers searching for young talent, recruiting specialists say.

“Facebook is the sixth-most trafficked site in the country,” says Richard Castellini, vice president of consumer marketing at CareerBuilder. “It is a great medium for employers to become more relatable to this important segment of the workforce.”

CareerBuilder launched its Facebook application in late August. It matches Facebook users with job and internship opportunities. CareerBuilder’s technology sifts through Facebook users’ profiles, gathering information such as college major and hometown.

Job boards testing Facebook applications are ahead of the curve, says industry consultant John Zappe.

“It’s a fairly inexpensive way to help their clients—recruiters and hiring managers—gain brand awareness among young, passive job candidates,” Zappe says.

Chris Russell, founder and president of JobsinPods.com, developed a Facebook application because it gives employers additional visibility among members of Generation Y, who typically are defined as those born between the late 1970s and 2000. Launched in March, JobsinPods is an audio job board allowing employers to record podcasts containing information about career opportunities within their companies and distribute them electronically.

The company’s Facebook application was introduced this month and allows recruiters and hiring managers who are members of Facebook to embed their podcast in their personal page. Russell hopes to enhance his Facebook application, making it more interactive and creating a function to allow podcasts to be e-mailed.

“The iPod generation is bored with the conventional communication techniques that employers use to reach them,” he says. “They want something fresh and real, like podcasts, which are very commonly used within this group.”

Jobster also has launched a Facebook application. The Seattle-based job board has partnered with more than 230 companies, including Verizon and Boeing, to create an employer talent network.

“Facebook’s open philosophy makes it easy for job boards to develop applications for the networking site,” says Jonathan Duarte, president and CEO of Go Jobs Inc., a job board and recruiting consultancy in Orange, California. “I anticipate a lot more recruiting specialists will be turning to this tool for reaching Gen Y’ers.”

—Gina Ruiz