With the job market more competitive than ever, job seekers need to use every tool at their disposal to land the perfect role. LinkedIn and Indeed are two of the most popular online job platforms, but which one should you focus your efforts on? Here is an in-depth comparison of the two to help you decide.
Popularity
When it comes to sheer volume of job postings, Indeed is the clear winner. Indeed has over 250 million unique visitors per month searching through its database of over 16 million job listings. It is one of the top 50 most visited websites globally. LinkedIn has around 740 million members, but only has around 14 million active job listings at any given time. For job seekers, this means Indeed provides a much larger pool of potential opportunities.
Focus
While Indeed casts a wide net across industries and job types, LinkedIn tends to focus more on white collar professional roles. LinkedIn members tend to be higher in seniority and have more extensive networks. Over 90% of LinkedIn members are college educated. So if you are searching for a professional services, corporate, or technology role, LinkedIn may provide higher quality leads. However, Indeed still indexes many such jobs, so should not be ignored.
Job Applications
Applying for jobs is streamlined on both platforms, but LinkedIn makes it easier to leverage your existing network. On Indeed, you typically have to visit an external site to apply. With LinkedIn, you can click the “Easy Apply” button for one-click applications using your existing LinkedIn profile. This allows you to put your best foot forward with recruiters. However, Easy Apply is only available on about 40% of listings.
Job Alerts
Both LinkedIn and Indeed allow registered users to set up email alerts for new job listings based on keywords and filters. This automated search feature is invaluable for passive job seekers or for hard-to-fill roles. However, Indeed provides more customizable alerts, allowing you to tailor alerts to specific locations, job titles, companies, salary ranges, and more. LinkedIn alerts are limited to keywords and filters like industry, title, location.
Salary Information
LinkedIn provides limited salary data compared to Indeed. On Indeed, many job listings include salary ranges, and you can search job titles to find average salaries. LinkedIn only shows typical salaries for some titles based on user-provided data. This makes it harder to benchmark salary expectations when using LinkedIn. However, pay may be negotiable and vary widely between companies.
Networking Opportunities
One of LinkedIn’s biggest advantages is facilitating connections. Beyond applying to postings, you can leverage LinkedIn to network with relevant contacts at target companies. LinkedIn shows you which of your connections work at companies of interest, and allows you to reach out and ask for informational interviews and referrals. While Indeed has an “Indeed Community” section, it is not widely used and lacks LinkedIn’s extensive user base for making connections.
Job Posting Sources
Indeed pulls listings from a huge range of sites including company career pages, recruiter sites, job boards, and more. This allows Indeed to cast a wide net. LinkedIn predominantly shows listings either posted directly to LinkedIn or sourced from limited job board partnerships. This means you may miss openings that are not directly posted to LinkedIn. However, for roles not widely advertised publicly, LinkedIn referrals may be your best bet.
Employer Pages
On both sites, you can research companies of interest to learn about their culture, values, and open positions. LinkedIn Company Pages have the advantage of giving insights through employees and followers. Indeed Company Pages focus more on aggregate reviews and stats like salaries and job trends. Overall, LinkedIn provides a better view into company culture. But Indeed tells you more about compensation and employee sentiment.
Job Seeker Resources
Both sites provide extensive resources for job seekers like resume examples, interview tips, and job search guides. Indeed has a larger volume of articles and tools overall. However, LinkedIn’s content tends to be more robust and targeted to professionals. LinkedIn also shows relevant content catered to you based on your industry and interests, while Indeed’s resources require more searching.
Job Market Insights
LinkedIn and Indeed both use job listing data to provide insights into labor market trends. Indeed has an Indeed Hiring Lab that publishes detailed reports on topics like tech skills demand, diversity, and remote work trends. LinkedIn’s Economic Graph team puts out insights on hiring, skills gaps, and migration trends. Indeed’s insights are more data-driven, while LinkedIn takes a higher-level view.
User Base
LinkedIn and Indeed have over 740 million and 250 million monthly users respectively. However, their user demographics differ significantly:
| Metric | Indeed | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly active users | 740 million | 250 million |
| % with college degree | Over 90% | Around 70% |
| Average age | 36 | 38 |
| Mobile usage | 63% | Over 50% |
As the table illustrates, LinkedIn caters to a younger, more educated demographic on average. Indeed draws in a broader range of job seekers across education levels, ages, and backgrounds.
Job Search Features
| Feature | Indeed | |
|---|---|---|
| Job listings | 14 million | Over 16 million |
| Advanced job search filters | Limited filters | Robust filters |
| Job alerts | Basic alerts by keyword/filter | Highly customizable alerts |
| Salary information | Limited data | Salary ranges and tools |
| “Easy Apply” one-click apply | On 40% of jobs | Not available |
| Company culture insights | Employee-generated | Review-based |
As shown in the table, Indeed provides more robust search features and salary information. But LinkedIn makes it easier to apply and learn about company culture.
Cost
Indeed and LinkedIn both offer free basic access to search for jobs. LinkedIn provides premium paid subscriptions to access features like InMail messaging, profile highlights, and more comprehensive analytics. Indeed has pay-per-click sponsored job ad options for recruiters and employers looking to increase visibility. But job seekers can access the full Indeed experience without paid account upgrades.
Conclusion
So which platform comes out on top? Here is a quick rundown of the key pros for each:
LinkedIn Pros:
- Larger pool of professional jobs
- Networking opportunities
- User profiles add context
- “Easy Apply” one-click applications
- More robust company culture insights
Indeed Pros:
- Much higher volume of job listings
- Advanced searching and alerts
- In-depth salary information
- Wide range of industries and titles
- Completely free access for job seekers
The best approach is to take advantage of both LinkedIn and Indeed. Use LinkedIn to network and find openings suited to your professional background. Complement it with Indeed to cast a wider net and tap into its powerful search functionality. Create alerts on both platforms so you never miss a promising opening.
While both LinkedIn and Indeed are extremely helpful job search tools, dedicating time to building connections and following up on leads is just as important as searching listings. An optimized profile, targeted outreach, and tenacious follow-up are key to landing the perfect role.