Indeed vs. LinkedIn: 2021 Comparison

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Are you looking for a job? Are you looking to fill an open position? There are so many job boards out there, that it can be overwhelming to decide where to start. Two of the top websites are Indeed.com and LinkedIn.com. These websites have different strengths and weaknesses when it comes to the job hunt — no matter which side of it you’re on.

A third website that addresses many of the options on both sides, in one location, is ZipRecruiter. If neither Indeed nor LinkedIn has everything you need, it may be a better choice to find qualified candidates or land your next role. Read on to understand which job board will help you achieve your professional goals.

What is Indeed?

Indeed is the largest job-searching website in the world — there are tens of millions of employers posting jobs and hundreds of millions of job seekers hoping to find their next role. It’s main and only focus is as a job-search engine.

There are 63 million monthly users coming to Indeed to search for their next role. With such a large audience, it’s a great option for employers to post jobs and job applicants to find plenty of job openings.

What is LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is a professional networking site that doubles as a job board for people who have an account. Think of it like a Facebook for professionals and instead of buying furniture on the Facebook Marketplace, you can apply for open positions on the website’s jobs tab.

There are more than 700 million people using LinkedIn around the globe to network and learn, but not all of them are searching for jobs.

How Does Indeed Work for Employers?

Employers can post a basic job opening for free on Indeed, making it an ideal platform for hiring managers working on a budget. But as great as the free option is, that also means the competition is stiff to get your job opening seen. How many other employers are competing for the eyes of qualified candidates?

Indeed’s solution to that problem is a paid job post. For as little as a few bucks a day, employers can post sponsored jobs and make sure the job postings get in front of the most applicants. When you pay for a post, you can invite people to apply for your job after finding resume matches.

Other free solutions for employers include adding screener questions and the ability to message and virtually interview candidates. It’s not possible to repost jobs from other websites onto Indeed.

Indeed also simplifies the screening process by grouping qualified applicants to the top of a dashboard, automatically declining applicants and helping to schedule interviews all within their website.

How Does LinkedIn Work for Employers?

LinkedIn, while primarily a social networking site for professionals, has a Talent Solutions product to help companies find their next hire. It uses insights from the community to help match applicants to jobs.

Similar to Indeed, companies can post a job for free or pay for a sponsored post to promote the position and get more applications, faster. But the pricing is dynamic, meaning different roles will cost more or less — so job postings for your next Vice President of Technology won’t cost the same as an Associate Account Manager.

People looking for jobs tend to do their own background research on the companies they’re applying to, which almost always includes a LinkedIn search. By having jobs linked directly to the LinkedIn company page, applicants are able to make decisions more quickly about whether to apply or not.

By posting a job on LinkedIn, hiring managers are able to check out the LinkedIn profile of any potential hire, in addition to viewing their resume, and reach out to them proactively to apply for a job. Additionally, companies can post job listings from other websites (including Indeed) on their company profile without having to pay any fees.

By posting on LinkedIn, employers are limiting themselves to only people who have a LinkedIn account.

The Differences and Similarities for a Job Seeker: Indeed vs. LinkedIn

The key difference between LinkedIn and Indeed for people who are on the job search is who is able to see the available job listings.

Indeed is free for everyone and doesn’t necessarily require an account to apply for jobs. Job seekers can create an account to post their resume and make it easier for recruiters to contact them, but it’s not necessary.

LinkedIn, on the other hand, requires an account and for job seekers to set up their profile. A basic profile is free, as is the ability to apply for the jobs. There is a paid premium subscription option, which suggests it can help get someone hired 2x faster, but again, it’s not necessary. There’s a one month free trial.

Other differences include the number of opportunities available. Indeed can be overwhelming with the amount of available jobs, while LinkedIn has more specific positions that benefit from being on the social network.

Because LinkedIn is also a social media platform, job seekers can also learn about employment related news before searching through job posts.

The job search engines on both sites let people looking to find jobs search by job title or keyword and location.

Another Job Board to Consider: ZipRecruiter

If you’re deciding between Indeed vs. LinkedIn, a third option is ZipRecruiter. It’s a more streamlined way to post open positions and recruit top talent without being behind an account wall — and it also happens to be the No. 1 job search engine online.

ZipRecruiter has a free trial for companies (it’s always free for people looking for new opportunities), then prices start as low as $16 per day for one reusable job post. The features that come with the cost make it worthwhile, if you’re serious about filling your positions quickly.

Each job posting can be syndicated to more than 100 other job boards, multiplying the number of qualified professionals that will see your listing. Employers can also conduct a resume search and see potential candidates’ employment history before inviting them to apply to a specific position instead of waiting for future employees to find them.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.