Indeed vs. LinkedIn: A Guide for Employers

Indeed.com: How does it work?

At around 250 million unique visitors per month, 150 million resumes received per month, and 10 jobs added per second, Indeed calls itself the No. 1 job site in the world.

Indeed is often the go-to solution for job seekers and job posters alike.

Job seekers flock to Indeed because it makes applying for work a breeze.

Not only do job hunters have access to listings that companies post directly on the site, but it also acts as a web crawler. It searches for job postings on thousands of websites, then conveniently aggregates them all.

Best of all, if a job search spits back an overwhelming number of results, Indeed's handy filters allow you to laser in on a certain location, type of job, company, keyword, level of experience or industry.

Just tick a few checkboxes, and suddenly you have a list of jobs that perfectly match your criteria. Indeed also allows job searchers to manage all their applications without ever having to leave the website.

Employers use Indeed because it's effective and efficient. With so many people searching for jobs via the site and the Indeed app, it’s one of the best tools for quickly filling open positions.

If money is tight (or finding a new employee isn’t urgent), you can post a job for free in the general search results and manage candidates right on the platform.

Or if you’re serious about finding talent fast, you can opt for the pay-per-click model. Pricing information is difficult to find on Indeed, but according to multiple media reports an employer will be charged anywhere from 10 cents to $5 per click if a candidate engages with a posting in the Sponsored Jobs section.

Given the high volume of job candidates on LinkedIn, you’ll want to set a maximum daily budget — to avoid any million-dollar invoice surprises.

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How does LinkedIn work?

LinkedIn works much differently than Indeed, but it's considered equally as powerful.

LinkedIn’s job board isn’t quite as massive as Indeed’s, but with more than 706 million users in over 200 countries (including 170 million users in the U.S.), it's the largest social network for businesses and professionals.

It’s a fluid and holistic ecosystem for hiring. You can leverage your friendships and business relationships to find good, talented people.

You can post on LinkedIn's job board, network via its built-in chat system, proactively search for qualified candidates, and dig deeper into the profiles of applicants.

Similar to Indeed, the job board uses a pay-per-click model, but unlike Indeed, there's no option that allows you to post for free. LinkedIn's per-click cost starts at $2.

When posting a job, you’ll be asked to set your daily budget. Your cost per click will vary depending on the job location, job title, and overall marketplace activity, so it’s a good idea to monitor the number of clicks you’re getting when your listing goes live.

LinkedIn vs. Indeed: How to choose

LinkedIn and Indeed have their strengths.

Indeed’s job board gets more eyeballs, but LinkedIn’s social network allows you to dig deep into applicant profiles and hand-pick the most qualified and engaging candidates.

How do you choose between the two? You may decide that the best option is to find a middle ground, of sorts.

ZipRecruiter is an example of a jobs site that draws on the strengths of both Indeed and LinkedIn.

When you post a position on ZipRecruiter, it automatically gets posted to more than 100 other job sites — giving you an extra boost of exposure.

And instead of waiting around for the perfect application to fall into your lap, ZipRecruiter allows you to screen potential candidates and preemptively invite the most promising ones to apply to your job.

Instead of a cost-per-click model, ZipRecruiter charges a simple, flat fee. That can be much cheaper if you’re in a competitive field and your posts are likely to draw clicks from hordes of candidates.

ZipRecruiter offers a free trial, and after that plans start at $249 a month. The cost depends on the numbers of postings and resume downloads you want, your industry, location and other factors.

In the end, the best job site for you comes down to your unique situation.

If saving money is your priority, you can’t go wrong with a free Indeed post. If you want to instantly see whether job applicants are known to people in your network, LinkedIn is a good choice.

But if time is of the essence and you need a platform with a wide reach and screening technology that helps you find "the one" as fast as possible, you might want to give ZipRecruiter a shot.