Reddit, a new playground for recruiters?

Long seen as a marginal discussion platform, Reddit is currently experiencing a spectacular boom in France and Europe. Far from being a simple den for anonymous enthusiasts, it is becoming a strategic conversation space for brands... and now for recruiters, eager to reach talent they can't find elsewhere.

Born in 2005 in the United States, Reddit has established itself over the years as one of the most lively discussion places on the web. Its principle is simple: thousands of communities, called “subreddits”, a kind of forum where users exchange freely around their interests. Its name comes from a play on words, the contraction of “Have you read it?”. If you like a post, you can "upvote" it with a single click, making it more visible to the community, or you can "downvote" it if you don't like it.

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Reddit, a fast-growing community giant

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But behind this apparent simplicity, the platform has recently experienced spectacular growth, especially on the European market. According to the AI-based web scraper Thunderbit, At the beginning of 2025, Reddit had nearly 108 million daily active users, an increase of 47% in one year, for more than one billion unique visitors each month.

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In France, this rise is confirmed. According to the media Les Gens d'Internet, The R/France community has exceeded 2.5 million subscribers and weekly traffic to the site jumped by 90% over one year. As for Luxembourg, no figures have yet been published on the use of the platform in the Grand Duchy (see more information on the r/Luxembourg subreddit further down in this article).

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But France has long been in the background, the platform remaining very English-speaking and focused on the American market. Evgeniya Khvan, Head of Media and Paid Media Manager at Carburant, shares on the news site J'ai un pote dans la com that” more and more French-speaking communities are developing: some very linked to French culture, others that are French-speaking versions of existing English-speaking subreddits. But despite this growth, it is still the English-speaking communities that remain the most influential. ”.

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In France, the internationalization strategy launched in 2023-2024, focusing on the automatic translation of its content and the development of local communities, seems to be starting to pay off: management highlights “record levels of engagement”, and the subreddit r/France reached the threshold of 2 million members at the end of 2024 (source: J'ai un pote dans la com).

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Is Reddit the anti-LinkedIn?

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The Reddit phenomenon testifies to a shift in uses: Reddit is now a digital, multilingual and multifaceted public place, where people come not only to debate, but also to get information, to help each other or to share professional experiences.

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Far from the polite codes of LinkedIn, the platform is distinguished by free and often raw speech, a reflection of a more authentic relationship with work and businesses. In this context, the TMP agency underlines that Reddit now overtakes LinkedIn in some global traffic rankings. The site is becoming one of the most influential social platforms, with a specificity that seduces: that of the community above all.

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This horizontal model naturally attracts the attention of HR departments and recruiters, who are always looking for new spaces to dialogue with talent.

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A new HR channel, between opportunity and innovation

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For recruitment professionals, Reddit first of all, represents an unprecedented access to profiles that they do not encounter on traditional channels. While LinkedIn and job boards are aimed at active candidates, Reddit is home to a multitude of experts, techies, creatives or engineers who are not necessarily looking for a job (what we call passive candidates), but who discuss their passions, their projects or their difficulties.

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By exploring specialized communities, like R/uxDesign, r/datascience or r/devops, a recruiter can identify regular speakers, assess the quality of their contributions and thus identify discreet but highly qualified talents.

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This approach, similar to “passive sourcing”, consists less in hunting profiles than in observing weak signals: relevance of comments, technical mastery, employee tone in discussions. These are all signs of expertise that allow you to come into contact in a more natural and personalized way. In a tight job market, this fine relationships become a major asset. "Reddit is not a channel for fleeting impressions. It's a space where you can build credibility, persistence and influence", says Evgeniya Khvan on J'ai un pote dans la com.

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Take care of your employer brand

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But Reddit isn't just a pool of hidden talent. It is also a mirror of the employer brand. Many employees, former collaborators or candidates share their experiences there, often without filters. A company that is absent from these conversations risks letting uncontrolled stories flow.

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On the other hand, an attentive and authentic presence makes it possible to re-establish dialogue, to explain an internal policy or to demonstrate, with supporting evidence, the corporate culture. In an article published in 2024, the TMPW agency notes that ”online communities are now shaping employers' reputations more than their own campaigns”. Reddit, through its direct discussion format, is becoming an HR transparency laboratory.

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An advertising potential to be discovered

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Finally, beyond monitoring and dialogue, the platform offers advertising potential that is still under-exploited. Through its dedicated platform Reddit Ads Manager, companies can carry out targeted campaigns based on the areas of interest, professions or communities followed.

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Concretely, a recruiter can broadcast a job offer to active users of r/frontend (315,000 members) or r/marketing (nearly 2 million members), thus optimizing the reach of its announcement while controlling costs. For modest budgets, Reddit therefore offers a complementary, agile and highly qualified lever.

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Between opportunity and caution: understanding Reddit codes

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However, venturing onto Reddit without knowing the rules would be a mistake. The ecosystem is based on autonomous communities, each with moderators and specific rules. Purely promotional content or disguised ads are frowned upon or even banned.

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For example, the community r/recruiting (150,000 members) explicitly prohibits the publication of job offers. Recruiters must therefore integrate tactfully: listen, participate, comment, before posting anything. The tone expected is one of sincerity and dialogue, not marketing.

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This culture of transparency and conversational meritocracy requires a certain amount of learning. A poorly calibrated post can elicit virulent reactions or a collective “downvote”, a sign of disapproval. On the other hand, a useful contribution or a testimonial of experience can quickly gain visibility and credibility. The challenge is therefore to provide value before seeking to recruit.

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Legal issues

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In addition to these cultural constraints, there are ethical and legal issues. Reddit maintains the anonymity of its users, most of whom use pseudonyms. Approaching a member in an intrusive way or trying to exploit personal data would be contrary to best practices, but especially to the GDPR.

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On Reddit, caution is required: any exchange must take place with respect for privacy and with transparency about one's role as a recruiter. In addition, the density of content on the platform makes it difficult to identify the right signals: you have to learn to discern the real competence behind the comments, which are often tinged with humor or irony.

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Towards a gradual integration of Reddit into HR strategy

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For businesses that want to explore Reddit as an HR channel, the process must be methodical. The first step is to observe. Before publishing, it is essential to listen to the conversations of communities related to your sector: engineering, design, health, finance, or even startup. This immersion allows you to understand the codes, sensitive subjects and the tone used. It is by becoming familiar with these dynamics that we will eventually be able to interact legitimately.

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Once this observation phase has been completed, it is time for gradual engagement. Through an “ambassador” with a clearly identified profile, the company can participate in discussions, ask technical questions, share feedback or thank members who talk about its products or its work environment. This discreet, non-commercial presence establishes credibility. Only then does the publication of a job offer or a campaign become relevant.

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Ask Me Anything sessions by businesses

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Some businesses choose to go further by organizing AMA (Ask Me Anything) sessions, a very popular format on Reddit. A technical director or recruiter answers members' questions about company culture, missions or career prospects directly. This type of exchange, if well prepared, can generate a lot of sympathy and organic visibility. Above all, it shows a rare openness in the world of recruitment: that of direct dialogue with candidates. But this approach is not to be improvised, and requires an early alignment between the HR, communication and management teams.

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The performance of these advertising campaigns can then be monitored and adjusted. Reddit offers detailed statistics on post engagement and where traffic is coming from. By measuring applications, positive comments, or spontaneous brand mentions, the company can refine its discourse and document internal best practices. This capitalization, which is often overlooked, transforms an experiment into a sustainable strategic lever.

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We've been watching for you: the r/Luxembourg subreddit

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While Reddit is on the rise in France, no precise figure exists on the use of the platform in Luxembourg. However, the development of local communities has allowed the emergence of discussions in French on HR topics in Luxembourg.

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So, the platform counts A subreddit r/Luxembourg, which counts 52,000 members. We have taken a look and have selected the most interesting discussions on HR topics for you.

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Our top 3 HR discussions in r/Luxembourg

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Sharing our experiences with tips on what worked for my (non-EU) spouse to land a job
Release date: August 2025
67 votes, 11 comments
Subject: A user shares his 10 tips for getting a job in Luxembourg for non-Europeans

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Unemployed for Quite Some Time
Release date: August 2025
53 votes, 103 comments
Subject: A user tells us about his difficulties in finding a job in Luxembourg after a year of active search

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Does HR have the right to ask for payment briefs?
Release date: April 2025
47 votes, 71 comments
Subject: A user asks if a recruiter in Luxembourg has the right to ask him for the pay slips of his current employer

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Conclusion

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Reddit is emerging as a new territory of expression for recruiters. Through its community architecture and its unfiltered tone, it paves the way for a more authentic dialogue between companies and candidates. Far from the formatted approaches of job boards, the platform values conversation, curiosity and demonstrated competence rather than simply putting a resume online.

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However, Reddit should not be seen as a substitute for LinkedIn or traditional channels, but as a strategic complement. While it is not the new hunting ground for recruiters, it offers a unique window into the perception of jobs, HR practices and corporate cultures.

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By integrating into it with listening, respect and creativity, recruiters can find much more than a distribution channel: a living observatory of the world of work.

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The future of recruitment, which is more community-based and participatory, whether in Luxembourg or elsewhere, may already be playing out there: in these anonymous, passionate and sincere discussions where the contours of the world of work of tomorrow are being drawn.

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Frequently asked questions

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Can Reddit replace LinkedIn or job boards?
No Reddit is not intended to compete with traditional professional platforms, but to complement them. It makes it possible to reach passive profiles, often more discreet but highly qualified, who express themselves within specialized communities.

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How to distinguish a serious candidate among anonymous users?
Observation is still the key. A credible contributor can be recognized by the coherence of his remarks, the technical quality of his interventions and the recognition of his peers. Analyzing the tone, consistency and content of your posts remains the most reliable indicator.

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How much should you budget for an advertising campaign on Reddit?
The cost depends on the targeting and the duration. Some players offer programmatic campaigns to automatically optimize budgets. A test worth a few hundred euros is often enough to measure the performance of an offer on a given community. The first results, measurable on Reddit Ads Manager, will make it possible to adjust the budget allocated to the campaign.

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