Designing Your Dream Job: Canva Study Reveals AI and Visuals Are Transforming the Job Hunt

• Jan 15
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Insights from 10,000 Hiring Managers & Job Seekers Uncovered in Canva’s 2025 “New Year, New Job Report,” Plus New Tips to Stand Out

• 96% of candidates using AI in application materials landed interviews
• 94% of hiring managers like candidates with a social media presence related to their career
• 88% of job seekers believe a strong digital professional brand improves their odds

Designing Your Dream Job: Canva Study Reveals AI and Visuals Are Transforming the Job Hunt

Olivia Johnson
oliviajohnson@canva.com

Today, Canva, the all-in-one visual communication platform, unveiled its second annual New Year, New Job report, offering a comprehensive look at how artificial intelligence (AI), social media, and accessible design tools are impacting the hiring process.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250115656500/en/

Canva unveiled its second annual New Year, New Job report, offering a comprehensive look at how artificial intelligence (AI), social media, and accessible design tools are impacting the hiring process. (Graphic: Business Wire)

The verdict? Those who embrace emerging tools and visual mediums, and create a strong professional brand, have a better shot at shining through in a challenging job market. These applicants are showing their skills in action with interactive resumes and portfolios, and hiring managers are taking notice.

“While online application processes can sometimes feel like a black hole, embracing visual mediums and tools like AI presents a new opportunity, allowing people to showcase their skills in non-traditional ways. These tools are increasingly becoming secret weapons that help to elevate your job search, receive more interview callbacks, and make your application stand out,” said Lorraine Dooley, Talent Acquisition Lead at Canva.

Over 390 million resumes were published on Canva last year as professionals worldwide seek to inject more creativity to improve their success in their job search. Canva’s New Year New Job survey of 4,200 hiring managers and 6,000 job seekers shows how new tools and shifting trends are impacting those currently operating in the job market. The survey was conducted by Sago in the US, UK, Australia, India, Germany, Spain, France, Mexico, Brazil and Japan.

From bland to brilliant: Hiring managers want to see colorful, interactive applications

In a workforce driven by virtual interactions and a visually-oriented Gen Z, job application norms are following suit:

• 65% (two-thirds) of hiring managers prefer resumes with interactive features, up 10% from 2023
• Hiring managers who are “very satisfied” with the resumes they see describe them as:
  • Modern (55%)
  • Exciting (47%)
  • 62% prefer color vs. black and white
• 72% of hiring managers prefer candidates who present a portfolio showcasing their work, via a website or presentation
• 35% of job seekers use portfolios, indicating many might be missing this opportunity to stand out
• 50% of hiring managers are in favor of video cover letters

AI is here to stay – for both job seekers and hiring managers

AI has found a home in the job search, and its users have good reason to feel confident: 96% of candidates who used AI for their applications received callbacks for interviews.

• For job seekers, AI is adding speed and inspiration throughout the process:
  • 57% have used AI to create their resume, up 12% from last year
  • 38% use it to search for job listings
  • 37% use it to find visuals for resumes
  • 37% use it to prepare for interviews and research companies
• 90% of hiring managers have used AI for some part of the hiring process:
  • 37% use it to summarize resumes
  • 35% to craft job descriptions
• 73% of hiring managers believe candidates should disclose generative AI use in application materials, highlighting the importance of transparency.

Social media is essential for personal branding - or finding your next gig

Hiring managers (68%) scope out candidates’ social media profiles at least most of the time, but job seekers are now using this to their advantage:

• 94% of hiring managers value candidates that have established a social media or online presence related to their career
• 88% of job seekers believe that a strong professional brand is key, nearly doubled from last year
• 87% of job seekers post on social media to brand themselves as industry experts
  • 48% post promoting their current job or about business trends
• 80% of job seekers now hunt for open roles on platforms like Facebook and Instagram
  • 88% of Gen Z job seekers do this, the most of any generation

New hire onboarding gets an AI-era makeover

As AI continues to transform the workplace, HR teams and hiring managers are finding ways to speed up the onboarding process while new hires use it to show up strong on day one:

• 91% of hiring managers agree that visual materials enhance the onboarding experience
• 77% of hiring managers use AI to create visual materials to help onboard new hires
• 81% of new hires said that design skills and creating polished materials were important while starting their new role
• 76% of new hires said AI made it at least somewhat easier to make an impression and get up to speed

Millions turn to Canva to build their professional brand

Canva’s AI-powered visual suite makes it simple for 220 million people worldwide to achieve their creative and career goals. Canva is home to thousands of resume, cover letter, social media and portfolio templates that offer a fast track to giving your job application a glow-up. Professionals have also embraced Canva’s generative AI tools like Magic Write, which was used 13 million times in resume designs last year.

To help job seekers kickstart their career goals and embrace the digital, visual job hunt, Canva has curated essential tools for candidates in one place with its New Year New Job hub. For more information and to explore these resources, visit canva.me/new-year-new-job-2025.

About Canva

Launched in 2013, Canva is the world’s leading all-in-one platform for visual communication and collaboration. Built to empower everyone to design, the company serves the creative and design needs of enterprises, small businesses, consumers, and students in more than 190 countries worldwide.

Whether you’re a novice taking your first steps in design, or a creative professional seeking powerful tools, Canva ensures users have what they need to transform an idea into something beautiful. Underpinned by the world's most comprehensive library of designer-made content, Canva is powered by a suite of products and proprietary AI tools which elevate how individuals and teams create, collaborate, and communicate with ease.

Methodologies

Employee Survey: An online survey was conducted from November 22, 2024 to December 3, 2024, and respondents were recruited from the research company, Sago. The survey was completed by a total of 6,000 respondents who are full-time knowledge workers at a company with 50 or more employees. In addition, they have either been looking for a job in the last 6 months or are currently looking for a job. Ten countries were represented with 1,000 responses each from the United States and the United Kingdom, and then 500 responses each from India, France, Spain, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, and Japan. All respondents were invited to take the survey via an email invitation. Panel respondents were incentivized to participate via the panel’s established points program, regardless of positive or negative feedback.

Manager Survey: An online survey was conducted from November 22, 2024, to December 4, 2024, and respondents were recruited from the research company, Sago. The survey was completed by a total of 4,200 respondents who are full-time employees at a company with 50 or more employees. In addition, they manage at least one person and are involved in reviewing resumes. Ten countries were represented, with 500 responses from the United States and the United Kingdom and then 400 responses each from India, France, Spain, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, and Japan. All respondents were invited to take the survey via an email invitation. Panel respondents were incentivized to participate via the panel’s established points program, regardless of positive or negative feedback.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250115656500/en/