LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 800 million members. LinkedIn offers various products and services to help professionals network, find jobs, recruit talent, and more. Two of LinkedIn’s most popular products are LinkedIn Premium and LinkedIn Recruiter.
LinkedIn Premium Overview
LinkedIn Premium is LinkedIn’s premium subscription plan for individual professionals. It provides members with additional features and insights beyond the free LinkedIn account. Some key benefits of LinkedIn Premium include:
- See who’s viewed your profile
- Read exclusive news and expert insights
- Take unlimited advanced courses
- Get access to premium job postings
- Contact recruiters with free InMail messages
- Expanded network with up to 15 introductions to connections
LinkedIn Premium is designed for individual professionals who want to maximize their LinkedIn presence and get the most out of the platform. There are three pricing tiers for Premium:
Plan | Price per month | Key Features |
---|---|---|
Premium Career | $29.99 | Standard Premium features plus interview prep and coaching |
Premium Business | $49.99 | Premium Career features plus TeamLink and talent pool matching |
Premium Sales | $79.99 | Premium Business features plus sales navigator |
LinkedIn Recruiter Overview
LinkedIn Recruiter is LinkedIn’s recruitment and talent acquisition platform designed specifically for businesses and hiring managers. It allows companies to identify, connect with, and hire top talent on LinkedIn. Key features of LinkedIn Recruiter include:
- Search LinkedIn’s entire network with advanced filters
- Send InMail messages to passive candidates
- Manage candidates and talent pipelines
- Post jobs and optimize with analytics
- Integrate with ATS and other HR systems
- Team collaboration tools
LinkedIn Recruiter is available in three plans:
Plan | Price per month | Key Features |
---|---|---|
Recruiter Lite | $999/year | Up to 5 Recruiter seats, basic ATS integration |
Professional | Custom quote | Premium support, full ATS integration, analytics dashboard |
Corporate | Custom quote | Volume discounts, compliance tools, team collaboration |
Key Differences
While both LinkedIn Premium and LinkedIn Recruiter aim to help professionals get the most out of LinkedIn, there are some key differences:
- Purpose – Premium is for individual professionals while Recruiter is for company recruiting.
- Features – Premium focuses on profile enrichment, education, and networking while Recruiter has dedicated recruiting tools.
- Audience – Premium serves individual subscribers while Recruiter serves teams at companies.
- Data Access – Recruiter provides more advanced search filters and data than Premium.
- Messaging – Recruiter includes unlimited InMail while Premium has capped InMail allowances.
- Pricing – Premium ranges from $30-$80 per month while Recruiter pricing is customized for each company.
When to Use Each Product
Here is guidance on when Premium vs. Recruiter is more applicable:
- Use Premium when: You are an individual focused on building your professional brand, expanding your network, learning new skills.
- Use Recruiter when: You are part of a team responsible for recruiting and talent acquisition at a company.
Premium can still provide value to some recruiters through expanded networking and profile data. But for comprehensive recruiting capabilities, most companies will want to invest in LinkedIn Recruiter.
Can They Be Used Together?
LinkedIn Premium and LinkedIn Recruiter can absolutely be used together for a powerful combined solution. Here are some ways they complement each other:
- Recruiters can use Premium to expand their personal brand and connections.
- A company can provide Premium subscriptions to their recruiters in addition to Recruiter.
- Premium provides data that can feed into Recruiter for better talent searching.
- Candidates engaged through Recruiter may be advised to upgrade to Premium.
Premium generates rich profile data that can help recruiters using Recruiter source and engage with top talent more effectively. And Recruiter provides systematic tools to manage candidates identified through Premium’s networking features.
Premium as a Recruiting Tool
While Recruiter is LinkedIn’s purpose-built recruiting platform, Premium does provide some useful features for recruiters and hiring managers. These include:
- Expanded profile views – See who has viewed your profile recently to identify engaged candidates.
- Larger network – Grow your network faster to access and engage more potential candidates.
- Unlimited searches – Use advanced filters and messaging to reach passive candidates.
- Verifying skills and endorsements – Premium provides more data on candidates’ capabilities.
However, there are significant limitations in relying on Premium for recruiting including lack of:
- Talent pipeline and ATS integration
- Recruiting analytics and reporting
- Team collaboration features
- Candidate management and tracking tools
- Custom branding and recruiter tools
For most robust recruiting needs, dedicated tools like Recruiter are recommended over Premium subscriptions.
Use Case Examples
Here are some examples of effective use cases for Premium and Recruiter:
Premium Use Cases
- A marketing professional looking to learn new digital skills through Premium’s online courses.
- An accountant wanting to expand their professional network to a new region or industry.
- A software engineer using profile views and InMail to connect with companies they are interested in.
- An entrepreneur using Premium data insights to improve their personal brand and standing.
Recruiter Use Cases
- A fast growing startup needing to hire 20 engineers over the next 6 months.
- A university expanding its HR team and using Recruiter to source qualified candidates at scale.
- A healthcare company looking to access both active and passive candidates for leadership roles.
- A consultancy firm changing their recruiting strategy to be more proactive and candidate-centric.
Conclusion
In summary, LinkedIn Premium and LinkedIn Recruiter serve related but distinct purposes. Premium provides individual subscribers with tools to enhance their brand, network, and skills. Recruiter enables company recruiting teams to systematically source, engage, and manage qualified talent. While Premium can benefit recruiters indirectly, Recruiter is purpose-built for talent acquisition. Most companies will want to leverage both products – Premium for their team members and Recruiter for their talent leaders – to get the maximum impact across LinkedIn.