The whole point of writing a job ad is to get it seen. And that means posting to the right platforms.
But with dozens upon dozens of job boards to choose from, recruiters are spoiled for choice – and primed for decision fatigue.
That’s why we’re taking a long, hard look at two of the most popular job posting platforms – Indeed and LinkedIn – to see which one gives you more bang for your buck.
As the top two sources of hire according to Breezy’s latest Source of Hire Report, we’re deep-diving into the key differences between Indeed and LinkedIn, so you can find your best-fit platform.
Indeed vs LinkedIn: The real pros and cons of each
While Indeed is strictly a job board, aggregating job posts from company portals, recruiter sites, and even other job boards, LinkedIn is first and foremost a professional networking site – but with stellar job search capabilities, too.
Here’s how the main features stack up:
At the end of the day, the choice of whether to post your next open role on Indeed vs LinkedIn boils down to how you want to present your company to potential job applicants.
If you have the time to create an impressive LinkedIn company profile, regularly update it, and routinely reach out to your connections, LinkedIn can be a powerful branding and recruitment tool. But if you’re looking for a job search engine that emphasizes simplicity and volume, Indeed may be the better bet.
But no matter which option you choose, you can tap into large pools of potential candidates on each site. LinkedIn’s social networking site boasts a 1 billion+ user base, while Indeed garners 350M+ unique visitors every month.
5 factors to consider before choosing
With Indeed accounting for 75% of all hires in Breezy’s Source of Hire Report and LinkedIn trailing with 13%, it may seem like Indeed is the clear winner.
But when it comes to target audience, time to hire, and employer branding opportunities, the top choice isn’t as black and white.
1. Target audience: who do you want to reach?
LinkedIn and Indeed both boast millions of monthly users across a variety of global industries and locations. To concentrate your resources effectively, you need to consider your target audience – and meet them where they are.
LinkedIn is ideal for targeting white-collar professionals and is known for its network of passive candidates who may not be actively looking for a new job but are open to opportunities.
As a social network, LinkedIn encourages strong personal branding on both the candidate and employer side, helping users build their network and maximize career momentum with features like the ability to add your company’s Commitments and a Life tab to showcase your culture. This, combined with direct messaging options, makes LinkedIn a good fit for companies that want to make a personal connection with candidates.
But while job listings are more like an added bonus on LinkedIn, Indeed’s main focus is matching candidates to posted jobs.
As a comprehensive job board that reaches a broad audience of active job seekers, Indeed is suitable for a wide range of job types, from entry-level positions to specialized roles. And with a user-friendly job search engine on the candidate side, Indeed makes it easy for job seekers to explore job openings without the need for prior connections.
2. Budget constraints: how much can you spend?
As a recruiter, it’s not enough to just make the hire – you also have to maximize your talent budget.
LinkedIn offers pay-per-click pricing for job ads, allowing you to choose your own budget. This can end up being pricey, but it’s also more targeted. With the ability to set a daily budget for the job post, it’s especially beneficial if you’re looking for a specific type of candidate and want to control your spending.
LinkedIn also offers a Talent Solutions premium subscription if you’re looking to move beyond job posting. Starting at $139.99 per month, the Lite version allows you to find and engage users in your 1st, 2nd or 3rd degree network alongside messaging perks and advanced search and filtering options. The Advanced version allows unlimited network access, bulk messaging, and more at an undisclosed amount per month.
Like LinkedIn, Indeed allows free job postings with the option to sponsor posts to increase visibility. At as little as $5 per day, this model may be more cost-effective for companies with limited recruitment budgets. However, if you want to access Indeed’s resume database, expect to pay between $120 and $300 per month.
3. Hiring urgency: how quickly do you need to fill this position?
In today’s job market, it’s not just about finding the right talent – it’s about finding them before the competition does.
According to Breezy’s Source of Hire Report, the average time to hire on LinkedIn is 58.67 days vs Indeed’s 356.34 days. And while factors like differing talent pools, administrative delays, or forgetting to mark a role as filled all play a role, it’s an important reminder to consider your need for speed.
With Indeed’s vast active job seeker database, you can still make quick hires. But with a large volume of open positions, job seekers have more roles to wade through and hiring managers must be skilled at screening applicants quickly.
By upgrading your roles for visibility, you can keep your jobs at the top of candidates’ feeds for longer. According to Indeed, these sponsored job posts are 4.5x more likely to lead to a hire – and a faster one at that.
But while faster recruitment channels are a major factor, it’s not enough to post and go. Depending on the level of competition for the role you’re hiring for, you may also need to nurture your pipeline and fine-tune your candidate engagement process to shorten the time from sourcing to offer.
And with LinkedIn’s emphasis on long-term relationship building, it’s the perfect platform to do exactly that. Though it may take longer to yield results, especially for niche roles, employers can find qualified candidates ready to jump at the right opportunity.
4. Role type: what kind of talent do you need?
The best job board for your needs also depends on the type of role you’re filling.
“I’ve found that LinkedIn is better for white collar full-time, permanent employment. Indeed is better for gig work, temp jobs, part-time work, and jobs that hire quickly and have high turnover, such as minimum wage jobs,” writes one Redditor.
And with LinkedIn facing criticism from blue-collar workers unable to find employment on the site, Indeed seems like the better fit for manual laborers like Darren Rambo.
“To be quite honest with you, I’ve had a LinkedIn account and I’ve never had any success with it,” Rambo told CNBC. “[But] Within three days [of making an Indeed account], I had four or five people calling me.”
Rambo attributes this to Indeed having more openings that aligned with his particular skill set.
If you’re looking for full-time knowledge workers, LinkedIn allows companies to connect directly with high-quality candidates. And though some have joked it’s the “brag board of choice for the white-collar worker,” the impulse to share makes it easier to vet candidates and assess culture fit.
5. Employer branding: how do you want candidates to see you?
When it comes to employer branding, LinkedIn’s emphasis on social networking and image cultivation makes it a clear leader.
The platform offers robust employer branding tools, allowing companies to showcase their culture, values, and employee experiences in a place where qualified applicants are almost guaranteed to see them.
By empowering companies to tell their story, candidates are more likely to actively participate in a brand’s narrative.
But it should be noted that Indeed also offers features that connect candidates with companies, providing company pages where employers can highlight reviews and salaries. But overall, the emphasis remains more on job listings than building a standout employer brand.
Easy posting for every platform
Whether you’re recruiting for an open role, nurturing your candidate pipeline, or building your brand, both Indeed and LinkedIn have a role to play.
And because both platforms offer no-cost options, there’s probably room for both in your hiring process. So go ahead and post a role, build out your company page, and see what happens – then you can concentrate your resources on the site that best fits your needs.
No matter where you promote your open roles, Breezy can help you reach more candidates. With just one click, you can automatically post your job listing to more than 50 of the top job boards, including Indeed and LinkedIn.
And if you want to experiment with premium job boards, we’ve got you covered there too. Try Breezy free for 14 days and start discovering your best sources of hire.
