Conquer the dream job through design: a Canva study reveals how AI and visual content have transformed job search

In the 2025 job market, getting featured is more important and challenging than ever Canva, the only complete visual communication platform in the world, presented the second edition of its annual report New Year, New Job (“Ano Novo, Emprego Novo”), offering a comprehensive look at how artificial intelligence, social networks and accessible design tools are impacting the hiring process.The verdict? Those who adopt growing visual tools and media and create a strong professional brand are more likely to stand out.

In Brazil, a country that leads the use of social networks to advance careers and look for jobs, 91% of candidates posted about their professional trajectories to establish themselves as experts in the sector in which they operate, exceeding the global average (87%). In addition, 91% use platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to look for job opportunities, also above the global average (80%), reflecting a trend driven by Gen Z professionals.

The Canva report also shows that more than half (53%) of candidates in Brazil use social networks to promote their current job, while 54% actively discuss business trends. This puts Brazilian professionals ahead in creating career-related content compared to other countries surveyed. Reflecting this behavior, 91% of recruitment managers in the country analyze the profiles of candidates on social networks at least a few times, while 64% do this most of the time. It also draws attention that 83% of Brazilian hiring managers clearly see the role of LinkedIn profiles in this social network.

In just one year, from 2023 to 2024, Brazilians created more than 300 million presentations on Canva, while the Instagram stories model was the most used product, surpassing the mark of 319 million uses. Brazil is also among the top three countries in use of documents, presentations, videos and Canva websites.

These candidates put their skills into action, which includes the use of AI, also with interactive resumes and portfolios, which has been noticed by hiring managers.In Brazil, 62% of candidates used AI to update their resumes, well above other countries (41% in Spain, 50% in France, 54% in Germany and 49% in Mexico).

At a global level, where 68% of hiring managers look at candidate profiles on social media most of the time, candidates are now using this to their advantage.In Brazil, 65% of candidates and 54% of recruitment managers strongly agree that a digital professional brand is something that influences the hiring process.

While online application processes can sometimes feel like a dead end maze, adopting visual media and tools like AI represents a new opportunity, allowing people to demonstrate their skills in non-traditional ways.Evermore these tools become allies that help improve their job search, receive more interview invitations, and make their application stand out”, he said Lorraine Dooley, Talent Acquisition Lead at Canva.

More than 390 million resume designs were published with Canva in 2024 as professionals around the world seek to instill more creativity into their job applications New Year, New Job canva, conducted with 4,200 hiring managers and 6,000 job seekers, shows how creativity trends impact millions of people who are now active in the labor market.The survey was conducted by Sago in Brazil, USA, UK, Australia, India, Germany, Spain, France, Mexico and Japan.

AI is here to stay for job seekers and those who hire

AI has found its place in the search for jobs and its users have good reasons to feel confident: in Brazil, 98% of candidates who used AI to optimize their applications received invitations to interviews, and for 48% of this group this happened for all the positions to which they applied. Going beyond content creation, AI is also adding more speed and inspiration throughout the selection process, since 57% of job seekers worldwide used the IA to create their curriculum 12% increase compared to the last year.In the 200x Curriculum was used in 2.1 million Curriculum in 2. 

In Brazil, 77% of hiring managers believe that candidates should report the use of generative AI in application materials, highlighting the country's strong commitment to the importance of transparency. 

Also globally, AI is used by 38% of job seekers to search for jobs, 37% to find visuals for resumes, and 37% to prepare for interviews and research companies.Among hiring managers, 90% use AI in some part of the selection process, 37% to summarize resumes, and 35% to craft job descriptions.

From “sem grace” to brilliant: hiring managers want to see colorful, interactive applications

In a workforce driven by virtual interactions and a visual-attached generation Z, job application rules are following this same trend: 65% of hiring managers prefer resumes with interactive features, an increase of 10% over 2023. In Brazil, this percentage is similar (64%), indicating a strong shift towards more dynamic application materials. 

All hiring managers surveyed who are “very satisfied” with resumes they see as modern (55%) and interesting (47%), while 62% prefer color over black and white. Additionally, 72% of these recruiters prefer candidates who present a portfolio showing their work (through a website or presentation), but only 35% of job seekers use these materials, indicating that many may be missing an opportunity to excel.In addition, 50% of hiring managers favor presentation letters. 

The emphasis on creating attractive materials seems to increase when starting work in a new role, as 68% of job seekers in Brazil consider design skills to be very important to excel.

The integration process takes on a new form in the age of AI

As AI continues to transform the workplace, HR teams and hiring managers are finding ways to streamline the onboarding process, while new hires use it to perform vigorously on day one. In Brazil, 92% of hiring managers believe AI makes integration easier, and the same percentage (against 91% globally) agree that visual materials enhance this experience.In addition, 84% (above the global average of 77%) use AI to create visual materials that help integrate new hires.

The Canva Visual Creation Kit simplifies for 220 million people worldwide the achievement of their creative and professional goals with AI technology resume templates, cover letters, social networks and portfolios, a product of visual documents and generative AI tools like Magic Text and Magic Editing, hundreds of millions of people have turned to Canva over the past year to shine a light on their job applications.

To help job seekers kick-start their career goals, Canva has selected essential resources for candidates in one place on the New Year, New Job page.For more information and to explore these resources, visit canva.me/new-year-new-job 2025.