What is the Difference Between Indeed and LinkedIn?

Anyone who is looking for work will eventually make their way over to Indeed or LinkedIn. These are the two primary methods of finding work for most people.

Indeed is a classic model job board. It’s similar to older models such as Monster, Hotjobs, and now ZipRecerutier and Craigslist. However, Indeed is the number one site for the last few years has been Indeed.

LinkedIn is not a job posting site, it’s more sophisticated than that. It’s a social networking site that was designed for professionals to network. It’s more than just about finding work, it’s a networking site for professionals in sales, marketing, and other facets.

Each website functions differently and each can be used as a prong in your strategy to find work. How you will use each site is going to be different, however. 

LinkedIn is a professional networking site where people connect with other people. Indeed is a job board where jobs are posted by recruitment agencies or companies that are looking to find work.

While companies often do post jobs on LinkedIn, it’s only part of the design of the site. Indeed, on the other hand, is only for job posting.

Job Boards vs Job Networking

It’s important to understand the difference between a job posting board and a job networking site.

For the sake of this article, we are going to be discussing commercial job boards, not internal company job boards.

When you visit a job posting board, you’re only going to be able to apply to job posts. In most cases you won’t know much beyond the name of the company, the general location of the job, and in some states where it is legally required, the salary.

A job board will require you to apply via their system. They make money by charging companies to post a job, and they filter the applications for the company. When you send an application into a job posting site, the company can then view the applications on the job posting client side.

On the other hand, a job networking site is designed for one-to-one communication. When you message someone on a site like LinkedIn, they will receive the connection request and the message. LinkedIn also has a job posting capability, but it’s a bit different than a pure job posting board that does not allow social networking. Why? Because applicants have all of their information on LinkedIn.

You can upload a resume to LinkedIn, but it’s not necessary in most instances. Your LinkedIn profile is your enhanced resume. If a recruiter finds you and connects with you, then they will ask you to message them over a copy of your resume.

Recruiters, hiring managers, C-level executives and others can do more research using LinkedIn about they people who are applying to work for the company. It’s also great for people who are applying for jobs. When you are researching a company, there is no better tool than LinkedIn if you want to know who you’ll be working with and for. If a company doesn’t have a complete LinkedIn profile and if the people working there are not professional or do not have a professional setup to their profiles, then you will have a much clearer idea about the company.

One important thing to consider is that it’s rude to ignore recruiters on LinkedIn. If you don’t respond right away, and instead take your time getting back to them, then they will not think that you’re a serious candidiate.

Does Indeed of LinkedIn Cost You Money?

LinkedIn is free for basic users. For more advanced features, it does cost a subscription. You can always run a trial to check out the benefits.

For most normal job seekers, it’s enough to use a basic LinkedIn account. The paid features are great for sales executives, recruiters, and business development executives.

If you are using a basic LinkedIn as a job seeker, you’ll be able to send message requests, apply for jobs, and do most basic things. There are some restrictions in place such as not having unlimited searches, and more sophisticated search functions, but in general the free version suffices for most people.

Indeed doesn’t cost you as a job seeker. It costs employers more to post jobs, but for people who want to apply for those jobs it’s free. The pricing method is designed so that companies pay the burden. If it cost to apply for jobs, almost no one would send in a resume. So it makes sense that the pricing model of a job board is on the company and not the job seeker.

Are Jobs Posted On Both Indeed and LinkedIn?

Yes, jobs can be posted on both Indeed and LinkedIn, however this doesn’t mean that jobs are always cross posted. Some companies are more likely to use one over another.

For instance, in the tech field there are job posting sites like Dice where companies post tech related jobs. However, as a rule most recruiting for tech and specialized work is done on LinkedIn. There are other fields such as marketing, finance, Public Relations, and media where the work is almost strictly found on LinkedIn.

Job posting boards such as Indeed are used for jobs where the people tend to not use LinkedIn. Medical roles such as nursing and patient care are almost exclusively advertised on job boards and recruiting agencies that handle medical work. Similarly, non-profit and administrative work is often advertised on job posting boards more so than LinkedIn.

Which Website Is Better For Finding A Job

It’s not an either or decision. You don’t have to limit yourself to just using LinkedIn or Indeed, you can use both. In fact, it’s probably wise to use both. There’s a benefit to using as many avenues as possible to find work when you are looking for a job.

In some instances, the field you are in will determine what site you use most often. For instance, as we have discussed, medical personnel  such as nurses, techs, and even hospital administrative staff would be best be advised to use a job posting board. They should look at the hospitals board but also look outside to commercial job posting sites like Indeed.

Professionals on the other hand, such as executives, lawyers, marketing, publicity experts, and social media professionals would do best on sites like LinkedIn.

These sites are used more in those industries, and as such it’s more likely that the jobs in those fields will be found on LinkedIn.

However, this does not mean that you should not utilize both if you happen to be in a specific field, it only means that you might have a higher chance of success using one. The smartest approach would be to use both, especially since it does not cost you anything.

If you are a professional who works in the corporate world, then you are going to want LinkedIn. Employers who are hiring for professional roles are not going to rely on job boards, they will want to find experienced candidates on LinkedIn.