Can you recruit on TikTok? The short answer is a resounding yes. In this post we detail why, and offer our own tips for how to recruit on TikTok.
Should You Consider Using TikTok for Recruitment?
Despite its explosion in popularity during the pandemic, many business people still regard Chinese-based, video-driven social media platform TikTok as being just for fads, funnies and silly little dances.
In truth, that perception couldn’t be more wrong. So with stats indicating it’s currently one of – if not the – fastest growing social media platforms around, we felt it was time to ask: can you recruit on TikTok?
The short answer is a resounding yes. To give more context, below we’ll explain why TikTok is becoming a worthwhile tool for recruitment, and offer our own tips for how to recruit on TikTok, too.
Why is TikTok good for recruiting?
The TikTok app has been downloaded over 3 billion times globally across all smart devices. In the UK it’s used by almost a quarter (24%) of all web-savvy 15-25 year-olds, and a consistent 9% of all people in both the 26-35 and 36-45 year age brackets. Those represents enormous numbers of people who are either just about to enter the jobs market, or represent the biggest body of people likely to be actively looking for new roles. The opportunity to market roles to this people in a place they actively frequent online is enormous.
It’s a fact brands are gradually becoming aware of. One notable example is the success of this TikTok-based 2021 recruitment campaign from Scottish restaurant chain Buzzworks, which had already garnered over 650 applications many months before its closing date.
However despite this, TikTok recruitment is still in its early days – which makes the platform far less inundated with job postings than, for instance, LinkedIn. At the same time, the younger demographic usage means that with TikTok, you’re far likelier to reach a younger demographic for those intern, lower-skilled and entry-level skilled roles. All of which suggests TikTok hiring is something to take advantage of on as early as possible.
How to recruit on TikTok
When it comes to how to recruit on TikTok, there are a number of approaches you can take – both indirect and direct.
1. Indirect: Using TikTok to tell your brand story
As we’ve previously explained on our blog, having a compelling brand story can work wonders for your candidate recruitment. You can therefore indirectly use TikTok for recruitment by simply showing up on the platform with regularly-posted, engaging content that lets potential employees see behind the curtain at your company and get a feel for life at your brand.
2. Indirect: Using TikTok to promote thought leadership
Thought leadership essentially means showing your expertise, and TikTok is a fantastic place to create content that does exactly that. Creating shareable video content that gives great advice and sets your brand apart as a leader in its field is another great example of how to recruit on TikTok in an indirect way.
3. Indirect: Using TikTok to advertise your products and/or services
Our third and final indirect TikTok recruitment suggestion is to use TikTok ads to grow the commercial side of your business. As we explained in our brand-building post, potential employees fall in love with a brand based on what it does well, so for TikTok-favouring Gen Z prospects in particular to see you adopting their favourite emerging social platform, will give you more of a footing to connect with them once you launch your more direct and targeted TikTok hiring efforts.
4. Direct: By proactively looking for candidates
Our first direct suggestion for How to recruit on TikTok is to literally get on the platform and have your hiring managers search for talent. Last year, TikTok trialled a US-based initiative called TikTok Resumes where American jobseekers could create their own video CV for employers to peruse. While we would expect that to arrive in the UK in the near future, your hiring team could get ahead of the game by actively looking through TikTok content to find UK-based influencers and make contact with them for suitable job openings. Our suggestion? Do a search for the field or the kinds of skills you’re hoping to find, along with the word ‘UK.’ You’re likely to find people who have just the kinds of experience and skills you’re looking for.
5. Direct: By listing your latest vacancies in video form
If you’re ready for your business to start creating content, you may wish to start off your TikTok hiring strategy by using creating videos that list your current vacancies (if you’re a small firm) – or (if you’re a little larger and have a regular stream of open positions) a handful of your latest ones. Make sure to include the most important information on the video in text form, including job role, location and salary, and any relevant hashtags in the video description. Give a call to action in the video for people to click the link in your profile’s bio (you can’t add links directly into TikTok videos, sadly), and make sure you point that link to the best place for candidates to learn about your open roles.
6. By creating your own dedicated, hashtag-driven recruitment campaigns
Once you’re up and running creating content, you might decide it’s time to run your first dedicated campaign. For this, you can go the organic route (if you have enough followers) or use TikTok ads to target the people who are most likely to be interested in your roles.
The method of using TikTok for recruitment leverages the interactive aspect of the platform by asking people to create their own TikToks with a specifically-defined hashtag. This approach to TikTok recruitment is incredibly clever because it also leads to the creation of organic content that promotes your business, meaning you get the benefit of finding fantastically talented, creative and passionate candidates, while also widening the impact of your brand.