'TikTok got me a job I love': How Gen Z and Millennials use the social media platform to launch careers

In 2024, Gen Z workers are  expected to outnumber baby boomers  in the American labor force for the first time. But right now, the workforce's youngest generation, the oldest of whom are 27, is treated as a novelty — with everything from their email signatures to their salary expectations put under the microscope. CNBC Make It explores how Gen Zers are really putting their mark on career advice, office culture and more.

Baron Leung didn't expect a two-minute video to change the trajectory of his career. 

In April 2023, Leung made a tongue-in-cheek TikTok titled, "Why You Should Hire Baron." In the video, he stands in front of a PowerPoint presentation and pitches himself to potential employers as elevator music plays in the background. 

Leung introduces himself as a "workaholic" and rattles off his biggest strengths including creativity ("I'm not just thinking outside the box, I'm going back in and making sure we didn't leave our wallets in there") and leadership ("I coach high school rugby in my free time. If I can get 50 teenage boys to listen, I can make anyone listen"). 

As Leung recalls, the video was a "last-ditch effort" to catch a hiring manager's attention after a frustrating job search. 

The 28-year-old quit his last job at an ad agency in March 2023 without another offer lined up and after two months of getting rejected or ghosted by recruiters, his optimism was fading.

"Nothing was sticking," Leung, who lives in Toronto, tells CNBC Make It. "I realized I needed to do something different to stand out. I love TikTok, and thought I could show my personality off a bit more in a video than a written resume." 

It worked: Leung shared the video on LinkedIn and within days, a recruiter he was connected with at Zenith, an