TikTok recruiting is all about attracting potential candidates for open positions in your company via the TikTok video platform. Unlike traditional job advertisements, social media recruiting focuses not on plain text, but on creative, entertaining videos. A higher reach on the platform can be achieved by using the right keywords and hashtags.
TikTok Recruiting: How to reach Gen Z with your videos
Gen Z will make up the majority of the workforce in the coming years. To be an attractive employer for this target group, it is important to meet them where they spend their time every day – on TikTok.
The video-first platform has quickly become the most popular social network among under-27s. So it's no surprise that more and more companies are recruiting on TikTok. After all, it offers your business a wide reach to potential applicants.
Gen Z will make up the majority of the workforce in the coming years. To be an attractive employer for this target group, it is important to meet them where they spend their time every day – on TikTok.
The video-first platform has quickly become the most popular social network among under-27s. So it's no surprise that more and more companies are recruiting on TikTok. After all, it offers your business a wide reach to potential applicants.
What is it?
TikTok Recruiting uses the platform specifically to reach new applicants – especially Gen Z. The focus is on creative short videos, not boring job ads.
Target audience:
Gen Z is active on TikTok every day. Almost 90% of 15- to 27-year-olds use the app – representing enormous potential for your recruitment strategy.
Video as the success factor
Videos with storytelling, humour and authenticity are significantly more persuasive than text content – especially among young target groups.
Content is king – and queen:
From office tours to Q&A formats, TikTok offers numerous opportunities to showcase your corporate culture in a lively and tangible way.
Social Proof with UGC:
Recruit with creator videos on TikTok – Speekly makes selection and collaboration particularly easy.
What is TikTok recruiting?
Why should you do social recruiting?
In recent years, TikTok has become the most popular social media platform for Generation Z, i.e. the 15 to 27 age group. Around 90% of users in this age group are active on TikTok every day, which is great reach for companies! TikTok is therefore an ideal channel for companies to attract the attention of ‘digital natives’.
What to look out for when recruiting on TikTok
Videos should be no longer than 60 seconds to match the typical attention span of users.
Offer fresh and authentic insights into the company culture and everyday work life to spark curiosity about the job and the team.
Use creative ideas and entertaining concepts to grab users' attention.
Focus on authenticity and behind-the-scenes insights.
Ensure good audio quality, as TikTok videos are primarily consumed with sound. Use appealing sound effects or appropriate background music.
Use inserts such as hashtags or quiz questions to encourage engagement. Short cuts and exciting storylines increase recognition value.
Post regularly to show presence. Use live videos or challenges to generate interaction.
Include a clear call to action, for example by adding a link in the video description to the career page.
What kind of content is suitable for TikTok recruiting?
TikTok offers many different ways to attract new qualified employees to your company. The following video formats have proven to be particularly effective for TikTok recruiting:
Employer branding videos
These videos provide authentic insights into the company and give potential applicants a feel for what makes it stand out as an employer. For example, they show the design of the modern office, cafeteria areas and chill-out zones to showcase the attractive working atmosphere. Snapshots of smiling teams working together on exciting projects or participating in joint activities also convey an appreciation of social skills and team spirit.
Interview videos with employees
Testimonial videos provide authentic, first-hand statements from employees. These typically consist of short interviews conducted in a relaxed atmosphere, in which the employees interviewed talk about their personal motivations for the job, what they particularly appreciate and what development opportunities they see. This encourages users to apply.
Challenges & Tutorials
Creative challenges and tutorial videos allow applicants to become part of the company themselves. Examples include design competitions for a new logo or instructional videos that teach skills such as programming or 3D modelling.
Q&A videos
Frequently asked questions from interested parties are answered by team members in a situational context. This gives users insider tips on topics such as salary, further training or working time models.
Live videos
Authentic live insights into day-to-day business, such as meetings or team lunches, give an immediate impression of the corporate culture.
Onboarding videos
The preparation of new employees is simulated in videos. This allows applicants to get to know important contacts and processes in a playful way before they potentially start work.
UGC videos
Use content creators to create suitable videos for TikTok recruiting campaigns. You can find more information here at Speekly!
Tips from our experts: 10 do's & don'ts if you want your TikTok recruiting to be successful
10 dos:
Focus on authenticity and emotions: Genuine insights and authentic stories from within the company create familiarity and credibility.
The visual aspect is crucial: TikTok is dominated by moving images and brevity. Avoid long passages of text.
Use hashtags strategically to increase reach: Appropriate keywords are the key to visibility on the Discovery Page.
Thematic consistency and recognition: A clear narrative thread and a uniform look support the user journey.
Consider attention span: Keep videos short and exciting (max. 60 seconds) to keep users engaged. Think of catchy hooks for the recruiting videos.
Regularly create new videos: Post fresh videos at least once a week to stay visible.
Encourage interaction through various formats: Interaction formats such as Q&A or challenges increase engagement.
Don't just post, maintain dialogue: Answer questions promptly and honestly to engage users.
Link landing pages for lead collection: Offer a landing page via videos for easy contact.
Measure and optimise metrics: Analyse the performance of views, likes, comments, etc. to make videos even more targeted to your audience.
10 dont's:
Emphasise the promotional nature: Authenticity is key, not finger-wagging.
Walls of text: Short, concise messages are more effective on TikTok.
Boring stock videos: Focus on creative, original content with high recognition value for your TikTok videos.
Choosing inappropriate hashtags: Only use hashtags that are relevant to your target audience and topic.
Posting without sound: Sound is at least as important as video on TikTok.
Posting infrequently and irregularly: Without a continuous presence, you will quickly disappear from the feed.
Disabling reviews: Interactive feedback helps to optimise videos.
Insufficient quality: Professional production with good image, editing and sound.
Remaining inactive in comments: Respond to requests promptly to foster a close-knit community.
Not following trends: Stay up to date with what is currently interesting to your target audience.
3 examples of successful TikTok recruiting
Career livestreams on TikTok:
The new standard format in social recruiting?
Short videos have become increasingly popular, especially since the start of the pandemic, on platforms such as TikTok. Within a very short time, social media platforms and their tools have become increasingly relevant. Career livestreams offer a wealth of advantages, especially for recruiting purposes. Authentic live insights into everyday working life give interested parties a realistic picture of the corporate culture and the teams.
At the same time, livestreams via Q&A formats enable direct dialogue in real time. Applicants can ask all their questions directly to employees or HR managers. Low-threshold live talks about common benefits or salary structures also ensure transparency.
Regular live events firmly established in the calendar create a lasting presence and familiarity for the brand as an employer on TikTok. In addition, live streams are ideal for teasing larger recruiting events or career fairs. Many HR departments are already relying on this promising format.
TikTok ads within the recruiting campaign:
The underestimated opportunity for more applications
While organic videos on TikTok primarily thrive on the creativity and reach of their content, paid TikTok ads enable targeted distribution to the younger generation. By choosing to run recruitment videos as ads, companies can precisely target their audience – for example, users in specific age groups or with specific interests in specific regions.
Ads give you the opportunity to present your recruiting message to a broad, new target group. This means you can also reach people who don't have a TikTok account. In addition, ads enable precise performance measurement thanks to metrics such as views, engagements and link clicks.
Many people have underestimated this feature for recruiting so far. But investing in TikTok ads is particularly worthwhile for targeted lead generation or increasing the number of applicants. Last but not least, ads can be used to boost your organic videos.
Here's how you put TikTok recruiting into practice
A key factor for successful TikTok recruiting within the app is the correct distribution of the videos you create. Be sure to use relevant hashtags from the recruiting and job market context, such as #jobs, #jobopportunities or #careers. This will help you reach users who are potentially looking for a job. The hashtags will also display your videos to a wider, international audience, expanding your recruiting network.
It also makes sense not to share the videos in isolation on TikTok, but to use the export function to place them on other channels as well. Professional networks such as LinkedIn, where HR managers and skilled workers are frequently active, are particularly well suited for this. YouTube is also a good choice, as videos on this platform are consumed heavily and regularly.
To generate sustainable engagement, the videos should specifically encourage interaction. For example, you could ask short questions at the end of the video that your target group can respond to. Challenges that encourage them to create their own creative content also promote engagement.
For a lasting presence, it is essential to publish new videos as regularly as possible. At least one new video per week stabilises output. It is also important to have a fixed posting routine, i.e. consistent days and times.
Ideally, the videos should also link directly to contact details or application opportunities on the company's own career website via a link in the bio or a CTA. This allows the prospect funnel to be completed from the first contact to the actual application step.
Use relevant hashtags to increase the reach of your videos.
Share the videos not only on TikTok, but also on other channels such as LinkedIn or YouTube.
Start interactions with questions and ideas.
Plan regular posts to show your presence.
Supplement the videos with links in your bio to job postings on your website.
Collect contact details of interested parties via a landing page or direct message on Messenger.
Conclusion
With creative, authentic videos on TikTok and a meaningful recruiting strategy, you can reach Generation Z where they spend their time every day: on the popular social media app. Take advantage of the opportunities offered by social recruiting to be perceived as an attractive employer. By spreading the word via hashtags and placing content on other channels such as LinkedIn or YouTube, TikTok recruiting can be used to tap into new target groups. Regular posts and opportunities for interaction in the form of Q&A formats ensure a lasting presence and familiarity with the brand as an employer.
