Making quality content for TikTok takes creativity and quick thinking, not to mention videography and editing skills, storytelling skills, and more. And employers are looking for Gen Z to flex their TikTok skills in the workplace.
We analyzed the almost ten thousand job descriptions on Handshake that mention TikTok. Here’s what we found out, and what it means for you in the job search.
The main takeaways
- There has been an almost 17x increase in jobs mentioning TikTok since 2019.
- A diverse range of sectors are seeking TikTok skills including Media & Marketing, Education, Non-Profit, Technology, and Healthcare employers.
- “TikTok skills” signals employer demand for a wide range of skills: content creation, graphic design, video editing, knowledge of the Adobe Creative Suite, and Google Analytics.
Employers are looking for video-related skills
Mentions of TikTok skills coincided with the exponential growth of TikTok’s user base during the first COVID-19 lockdown, when the app became the fastest social media platform to reach 1 billion users.
The growth of “TikTok” as a keyword in job descriptions is also correlated with a broader demand for video-related skills (specifically, video editing and video production). This is in response to a larger shift toward video content: Cisco has predicted that by the end of 2022, online videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic, 15 times greater than in 2017.
What specific skills do employers want?
When employers list TikTok in a job description, it implies a large set of skills and knowledge. These can include:
- Knowledge of emerging social media platforms
- Content creation
- Verbal and written communication skills
- Graphic design
- Video editing
- Knowledge of the Adobe Creative suite
- Google Analytics
That means it would be smart to list as many of these specific terms on your Handshake profile and resume as you can.
What industries are looking for TikTok skills?
In what sectors are employers looking for TikTok skills? It turns out, all of them! Almost a fifth of jobs listing TikTok are in the Media & Marketing sector, followed by Arts & Entertainment (15%), Education (12%), Non-Profit (8%), Technology (8%), and Healthcare (3%).
Top job roles asking for TikTok skills
The most common job titles that list TikTok as a required skill include:
- Marketing Specialists
- Public Relations Specialists
- Graphic Designers
These jobs go beyond just content creation. Often, employers want to give hires a wide range of responsibility, with job titles like “TikTok Guru” and “Junior Influencer Strategist,” and job descriptions that say things like, “we want to create an environment where your creativity openly flows.”
Can I apply to these roles with my major?
While we found that marketing majors make up the most applications for TikTok roles (11%), there were many applicants with Business Administration (11%), Communication (4%), Economics (4%), Psychology (3%), and Communication Studies (2%) backgrounds.