In today’s job market, there are many job boards and platforms that job seekers can utilize to look for new career opportunities. Two of the most popular sites are LinkedIn and Indeed. But when it comes to reliability and effectiveness for finding a job, which platform should you focus your efforts on? Here is an in-depth comparison of LinkedIn and Indeed when it comes to helping job seekers find and land their next role.
Popularity
When it comes to sheer volume of job postings, Indeed has the edge over LinkedIn. Indeed has over 250 million unique visitors per month globally while LinkedIn has about 260 million total members, with around 706 million registered users. However, it’s worth noting that LinkedIn members are professionals who are more actively looking for new job opportunities or advancing their careers, while Indeed casts a wider net and attracts all types of job seekers.
Quality of Job Postings
While Indeed may have more overall job postings, many experts argue that the roles listed on LinkedIn tend to be higher quality and more advanced or managerial in nature. LinkedIn has established itself as the go-to platform for higher level professionals and executives. Job seekers are more likely to find c-suite, leadership, director, manager, VP, and other skilled roles on LinkedIn rather than entry-level or hourly positions. The types of companies posting jobs on LinkedIn also tend to be more established organizations focused on hiring professional roles.
Targeting Relevant Opportunities
One major advantage of LinkedIn is the ability to customize your feed and job search experience to surface job opportunities that are the best match for your background and interests. LinkedIn uses information from your profile such as your summary, experience, education, skills, and interests to recommend jobs tailored to you. You can also follow specific companies to be notified when they post new openings. With Indeed, you may have to sift through many postings that are less relevant to really hone in on target opportunities.
Quality of Candidates
From an employer’s perspective, the candidates applying via LinkedIn tend to be higher caliber since they have taken the time to build out a professional profile and establish their credentials on the platform. Someone who applies for a job posting on LinkedIn has made a more deliberate effort to advance their career. Applicants on Indeed may include job seekers casually browsing for any type of opportunity rather than professionals who are experts in their field and qualified for more advanced roles.
Networking Opportunities
One of the prime advantages of LinkedIn is the ability to leverage your professional network and connect with key players at organizations you want to work for. You can join industry or alumni groups, follow companies, and connect with relevant contacts. This gives you an opportunity to get your foot in the door, learn about opportunities before they are formally announced, and get referred for roles. Indeed focuses solely on applying to posted jobs without any of the networking components.
Application Process
Applying for jobs on LinkedIn is generally a more streamlined, one-click process thanks to your pre-populated profile. You simply click “Easy Apply” for any posting where that option is enabled. With Indeed, you typically have to visit the employer’s site to fill out an application or submit your resume for each individual role. The application process is slower and less integrated. LinkedIn makes it simple to quickly submit your existing profile for consideration with one click.
Job Search Features
Indeed offers job seekers a powerful advanced search where you can search by title, keywords, location, company, salary range, job type, experience level and more filters. You can drill down to find very specific types of roles. LinkedIn has search filters as well but not quite as robust. However, LinkedIn offsets this with itsCareer Pages for specific roles at major companies, curated job recommendations, and the job search box that utilizes AI to suggest relevant postings as you type based on your profile.
Job Alerts
Both platforms allow you to set up email job alerts that will notify you when new postings match your saved searches. These alerts help surface targeted new opportunities that align with your criteria so you don’t have to continually check the sites for your dream job. LinkedIn and Indeed both provide this useful feature to help job seekers effortlessly stay on top of openings in their field of interest.
Salary Insights
LinkedIn and Indeed both provide valuable data on expected salary ranges for different roles in various locations. You can get an idea of the typical pay for any position based on your geographical area or compare salaries across cities and states. This allows you to benchmark expected compensation when negotiating offers or salaries at a new job. Both platforms offer user-submitted salary data as well as insightful compensation reports.
Company Research
LinkedIn and Indeed both allow you to research potential employers by reading about the company culture, employee reviews, interview processes, benefits and more. However, LinkedIn has much more robust organizational profiles including the ability to see any current employees you may be connected to. Learning about workplace culture and experiences can help you determine if an employer is a good fit.
Job Seeker Community
Indeed has an active community forum where you can get advice and support from fellow job seekers about topics like resume writing, interview prep, salary negotiation and more. LinkedIn offers groups you can join as well but Indeed’s forums are directly aimed at helping job seekers succeed in their search.
Blog Content
Both LinkedIn and Indeed have their own blogs with useful articles related to job seeking, career development, workplace insights and more helpful content. However, LinkedIn tends to have more extensive blogging platforms geared toward professionals. Popular LinkedIn blogs like LinkedIn News, LinkedIn Talent Blog and LinkedIn Labor Market Insights offer a wealth of career-related resources.
Job Search Status Tracking
LinkedIn has helpful tracking features so job seekers can see where they stand with applications. You can mark roles as “Saved”, “Applied” or “Interviewing” to keep tabs on where you are in the process. Indeed does not offer any tracking capabilities to monitor your status across opportunities in your search process.
Mobile Experience
Indeed and LinkedIn both offer iOS and Android apps so you can search for jobs and receive alerts on the go. However, LinkedIn tends to have a more robust and fully featured mobile experience optimized for job seekers. The LinkedIn Job Search app offers a complete suite of capabilities mirroring the desktop site.
LinkedIn vs Indeed: Pros and Cons
Here is a summary of some of the key pros and cons of using LinkedIn compared to Indeed for your job search:
LinkedIn Pros
- Higher quality job postings for skilled/professional roles
- Opportunities tailored to your profile and interests
- Integrated one-click “Easy Apply” option
- Robust networking capabilities
- Targeted company & role-specific Career Pages
- In-depth company culture insights
- Stronger applicant tracking features
- More extensive mobile app
LinkedIn Cons
- Smaller volume of postings vs Indeed
- Not as many filters to customize search
- Less extensive job seeker community forums
Indeed Pros
- Highest number of job listings
- Advanced search filters to customize search
- Active job seeker community forums
Indeed Cons
- More basic mobile app capabilities
- Less robust applicant tracking features
- No networking component
- More postings unrelated to your background
- Lower quality candidates
Conclusion
In summary, while Indeed casts a wider net in terms of volume of job postings, LinkedIn tends to provide higher quality opportunities and a better overall experience for serious job seekers looking to advance their professional careers. LinkedIn makes it easier to apply for relevant roles, research target employers, leverage your network and track your search progress. The key advantages of LinkedIn include:
- Higher caliber job postings suitable for experienced professionals
- Tailored recommendations based on your specific credentials
- A built-in professional network to tap for referrals and insider opportunities
- Robust company profiles and culture insights
- Sophisticated application tracking features
- A strong mobile app supporting job search tasks on the go
For most professional or managerial job seekers focused on advancing their career, LinkedIn is likely the more reliable platform compared to Indeed. The network effects, customization and quality of postings make it a powerhouse for experienced candidates looking to level up into more senior roles. While Indeed offers scale in terms of job availability across industries and levels, the overall LinkedIn experience is hard to beat for targeted, streamlined and advanced job seeking.
