This year, Gen Z workers are expected to outnumber baby boomers in the American labor force for the first time, and many of them are turning to TikTok to research and launch their careers, CNBC Make It reported.
In April 2023, 28-year-old Baron Leung made a two-minute video on the platform, titled “Why You Should Hire Baron.” In the video, he stands in front of a PowerPoint presentation and pitches himself to potential employers as elevator music plays in the background. He called it a “last-ditch effort” to catch a hiring manager’s attention after a frustrating job search.
“I realized I needed to do something different to stand out,” he told CNBC. “I love TikTok, and thought I could show my personality off a bit more in a video than a written résumé.” The stunt worked; after sharing the video on LinkedIn, he got a call from an ad agency recruiter, who saw the video and eventually hired him.
Fifty-six percent of U.S. adults ages 18 to 34 said that they use the platform, according to a February 2024 report from the Pew Research Center. Many are using the app to guide their careers; 41 percent of Gen Zers have made a career-related decision based on TikTok advice, 15 percent received an offer for a job they found on the app, and nearly 80 percent have used the app to network, according to a recent ResumeBuilder.com survey of 1,000 Gen Zers.
Much of the career advice on TikTok echoes the tips shared in podcasts, YouTube videos and LinkedIn thought pieces, but the aesthetics and format are different and more appealing to Gen Z, CNBC Make It explained.
Jade Walters, 24, told CNBC that her career would look “completely different” without TikTok. She participated in the app’s “TikTok Résumés” pilot program in July 2021, shortly after graduating from Howard University. Through the program, companies like Chipotle and Target advertised open roles on the app and invited young jobseekers to create a video résumé; users with standout clips would then be invited to start a formal hiring process.
Walters’ video caught the attention of a recruiter at TikTok, and the company hired her in September 2021 as a media planner. Around that same time, Walters started posting career advice videos on TikTok under the handle @theninthsemester, geared toward college students and recent graduates like herself. She now works at Yello, an early talent recruitment platform, which recruited her as a result of her career advice videos.
Grace Dunlavy, 24, goes to TikTok for career advice. She told CNBC that watching videos of recent graduates working in public relations, an industry that she was interested in, but in which she lacked experience, gave her the confidence to apply for PR jobs in New York. She also found the platform “incredibly helpful” for other job-searching advice, such as writing stronger emails.
But there are also drawbacks to getting career advice on TikTok, experts interviewed by CNBC warned.
“You have to strike a balance between being authentic and oversharing or complaining,” said Bonnie Dilber, a recruiting leader at software firm Zapier. “It’s fair to call out improvements or challenges in the workplace, but if you’re venting in all of your videos, a company might be less eager to work with you.” Dilber added that she's noticed that TikTok is popular in creative fields such as marketing, public relations, communications and graphic design, but less common in professions such as finance and law.
“Anyone can jump on the app and provide career advice or claim they’re an expert without the credentials to back it up, which is worrisome to some employers,” said Shoshanna Davis, founder of the career consultancy Fairy Job Mother, who works with companies that hire Gen Zers. “Managers don’t want people jumping to conclusions based on a TikTok. Just because a video has gotten a lot of views doesn’t mean it’s necessarily true or great advice.”
“TikTok might help you connect with employers or improve your interview skills, “but it’s only going to get you so far in the job search,” she said. “You still need to prove that you have the skills and experience someone is hiring for. TikTok doesn’t always tell the full story.”