UK 
United States
It has always been a rule of thumb to advertise where the audience is and for Gen Z jobseekers that’s increasingly TikTok. LinkedIn the professional networking site is reportedly passé for the new team in town and many employers are turning to the user-generated video platform to post their vacancies but is it helpful or harmful to employer branding?
#hiring #worktok #fyp.
I’m watching a TikTok by Boots, Britain’s beloved pharmacy chain. It’s advertising BootsBeauty – ISLEOFMAN. The caption says, ‘We are hiring!!! Head to Boots, jobs where all positions are listed ‘#fyp #foryou #foryourpage #worktok.’ There are two female employees in sunglasses going up in a lift holding a placard which in capitals says, ‘NOW HIRING @BOOTS.’ With my left middle finger, I can ‘swipe up’ and see what else a search for ‘Boots’ has to give me, it’s ‘Wendy G’ selling me some fetching black ankle footwear – I have no idea who she is, but I get that ‘boots’ is not just a shop. I keep going – I have forgotten largely what I was searching for and why, to be honest I’m not entirely concentrating in a way that you don’t with social media. Luckily, I’m not currently in the market (well never say never) for a job at the high-street retailer but it’s a good thing too because I feel like my mind has been whitewashed with a ‘delete’ button.
I vow to focus a little more in the name of ‘trying once more’ and poise my middle, left finger again on the social media platform. This time I turn to accountancy powerhouse KPMG. A woman is pointing to the right of the screen where a box-out appears, this shows live vacancies. It’s a cherry-picking exercise, where I can choose from a smorgasbord of ‘audit graduate to tax graduate’ roles. On the left our lovely host points to reasons to apply, including ‘working in one of the big four to great company culture.’ I’m just getting into it but then she disappears because my clumsy digit tertius swipes up almost in an unconscious (powered by its own agenda) moment.
TikTok is rapidly becoming an essential platform for HR teams looking to showcase their employer brand, particularly when aiming to attract Gen Z talent. This generation values transparency and authenticity, and TikTok offers the opportunity to humanise your brand by giving candidates a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to work for your company
My brain has started getting used to being seeped in visual content but has moderated its own coping mechanism so I still can’t remember longer than the moment my finger presses on it. I reflect on my own content consumption and quality of long-term memory. No, I’m not Gen Z – think on a few generations (gulp) but is this working for employers? I’m left rather empty by the whole experience. Not being an expert, or a controller of my anatomy, I turn to my old friend, LinkedIn and apologise for leaving it for the ‘box-fresh’ (for me at least) dabble with its shiny, new replacement TikTok. There, I find a social media expert who is able to offer me some insight.
