In the 2025 job market, standing out is more important and challenging than ever. THECanva, the world's only complete visual communications platform, has released the second edition of its annual reportNew Year, New Job ("New Year, New Job" in Portuguese), offering a comprehensive look at how artificial intelligence, social media, and accessible design tools are impacting the hiring process. The verdict? Those who adopt tools and visual media in growth and create a strong professional brand are more likely to stand out.
In Brazil, a country that leads in using social media to advance careers and seek jobs, 91% of candidates posted about their professional journeys to establish themselves as specialists in their respective fields, surpassing the global average (87%). Additionally, 91% use platforms like Facebook and Instagram to look for job opportunities, also above the global average (80%), reflecting a trend driven by Generation Z professionals.
The Canva report also shows that more than half (53%) of candidates in Brazil use social media to promote their current job, while 54% actively discuss business trends. This puts Brazilian professionals ahead in creating career-related content compared to other surveyed countries. Reflecting this behavior, 91% of recruitment managers in the country review candidates' profiles on social media at least occasionally, while 64% do so most of the time. It also draws attention that 83% of Brazilian hiring managers check profiles on LinkedIn, clearly highlighting the fundamental role of this social network in candidate evaluation.
In just one year, from 2023 to 2024, Brazilians created over 300 million presentations on Canva, while the Instagram Stories feature was the most used product, surpassing 319 million uses. Brazil is also among the top three countries in the use of Canva documents, presentations, videos, and websites.
These candidates put their skills into action, including 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).
Globally, with 68% of hiring managers often reviewing candidates' social media profiles, candidates are now leveraging 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 the online application process can sometimes feel like a maze with no way out, embracing visual media and tools like AI presents a new opportunity, allowing people to showcase their skills in non-traditional ways. Increasingly, these tools are becoming allies that help improve your job search, receive more interview invitations and make your application stand out,” he said.Lorraine Dooley, Talent Acquisition Lead no Canva.
Over 390 million resume designs were published with Canva in 2024 as professionals worldwide seek to infuse more creativity into their job applications. The researchNew Year, New JobThe Canva survey, conducted with 4,200 hiring managers and 6,000 job candidates, shows how creativity trends impact millions of people who are currently active in the job market. The research was conducted by Sago in Brazil, the USA, the United Kingdom, Australia, India, Germany, Spain, France, Mexico, and Japan.
AI is here to stay — for job seekers and hirers
AI has found its place in job searching, and its users have good reasons to feel confident: in Brazil, 98% of candidates who used AI to optimize their applications received interview invitations, with 48% of this group receiving invitations for all the positions they applied for. Beyond content creation, AI is also adding more speed and inspiration to the entire hiring process, as 57% of job candidates worldwide used AI to create their resumes — a 12% increase compared to last year. In Canva, Magic Text was used 13.7 million times in resume designs in 2024.
In Brazil, 77% of hiring managers believe that candidates should disclose the use of generative AI in their application materials, highlighting the country's strong commitment to the importance of transparency.
Globally, AI is used by 38% of job applicants to search for vacancies, 37% to find visual resources for resumes, and 37% to prepare for interviews and research companies. Among hiring managers, 90% use AI in some part of the recruitment process, 37% to summarize resumes, and 35% to create job descriptions.
From “boring” to brilliant: Hiring managers want to see colorful, interactive applications
In a workforce driven by virtual interactions and a visually-oriented Generation Z, the job application rules are following this same trend: 65% of hiring managers prefer resumes with interactive features, a 10% increase compared to 2023. In Brazil, this percentage is similar (64%), indicating a strong shift towards more dynamic application materials.
All the hiring managers surveyed who are "very satisfied" with the resumes they see describe them as modern (55%) and interesting (47%), while 62% prefer colors instead of black and white. Additionally, 72% of these recruiters prefer candidates who present a portfolio showcasing their work (through a website or presentation), but only 35% of job applicants use these materials, indicating that many may be missing an opportunity to stand out. Additionally, 50% of hiring managers are in favor of video cover letters.
The emphasis on creating compelling materials appears to increase when starting a new role, with 68% of job seekers in Brazil considering design skills to be very important to stand out.
The onboarding process takes on a new shape in the AI era
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 introduce themselves enthusiastically on their first day. In Brazil, 92% of hiring managers believe that AI facilitates onboarding, and the same percentage (compared to 91% globally) agree that visual materials enhance this experience. Additionally, 84% (above the global average of 77%) use AI to create visual materials that assist in onboarding new hires.
Canva's Visual Creation Kit simplifies for 220 million people worldwide the achievement of their creative and professional goals, with AI technology. With thousands ofresume, cover letter, social media and portfolio templates, a product of visual documents and generative AI tools like Magic Text and Magic Edit, hundreds of millions of people have turned to Canva over the past year to polish their job applications.
To help job applicants kickstart their career goals, Canva has curated essential resources for candidates all in one place on the New Year, New Job page. For more information and to explore these resources, visitcanva.me/new-year-new-job-2025.
