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Monster is adapting its job search functionality to social networking with BeKnown, an app that lets users set up a professional network on Facebook.

BeKnown, set to go live on Monday, will let Monster users import their data to Facebook and set up professional networks there as well. Matthew Mund, global vice president of product for Monster, reasons that since Facebook has around 700 million members, most people are on it already. “This is the path of least resistance,” Mund says. “You can manage your professional identity and your social identity in one place.” BeKnown will also be targeted at recruiters. Mund says Monster gets about 38 million unique visitors a month.

In starting a network from scratch, though, Monster faces a formidable challenge. Most notably, there’s LinkedIn, which has more than 100 million members and has established itself as the premier professional social network. Monster is also not the first to consider using Facebook as a backdrop for a new professional network — BranchOut, which has more than 800,000 users — is trying to do the same thing.

Monster has added a few bells and whistles to BeKnown that it hopes will diferentiate the offering. For instance, users get Foursquare-like badges when they complete certain professional goals, such as graduating from college. Users can also follow companies and get endorsements a la LinkedIn, features not yet available on BranchOut.

The offering comes as the recession has hit Monster’s bottom line. Monster’s net sales have dropped 11% (annualized since 2008) and its stock price has declined 8.9%. However, the company posted a 23% jump in revenues in its first quarter, which ended March 31.