LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 810 million members worldwide. While anyone can create a basic LinkedIn profile for free, LinkedIn also offers several premium membership options that provide additional features and benefits.
LinkedIn Premium Career
LinkedIn Premium Career is LinkedIn’s basic paid subscription plan. For $29.99 per month, Premium Career members get access to the following key features:
- See Who’s Viewed Your Profile – You can see the names and profiles of members who have recently viewed your profile.
- InMail Messages – Send unlimited messages directly to any other LinkedIn member without needing to connect first.
- Profile Badges – Display badges on your profile to highlight your skills, education, and other credentials.
- Salary Insights – View estimated salary ranges for specific job titles.
- Interview Preparation – Get tips and advice to help prepare for upcoming interviews.
- Premium Networking Tools – See expanded profiles beyond your 1st-degree connections and send connection requests to 2nd and 3rd-degree connections.
LinkedIn Premium Business
LinkedIn Premium Business includes all of the same features as Premium Career, plus:
- Search Filters – Use advanced filters to target your searches by industry, job title, company size, and more.
- Contact Search – Search for specific contacts by name across the entire LinkedIn network.
- Unlimited InMails – No limit on the number of InMail messages you can send per month.
- Mention Notifications – Get alerts when others mention you in posts, comments, or articles.
The Premium Business subscription costs $59.99 per month.
LinkedIn Premium Hiring
LinkedIn Premium Hiring provides recruiting-focused tools for identifying and connecting with top talent. Key features include:
- InMail Messages – Send InMails to connect with non-connections.
- Candidate Search Filters – Use filters like Years of Experience, Location, Current Company, and Skills to find qualified candidates.
- Contact Search – Search for specific contacts across LinkedIn.
- Profile Badges – Highlight team members’ credentials with badges on their profiles.
- Interview Preparation – Get tips on planning interviews, developing questions, and assessing candidates.
Premium Hiring costs $99.95 per month.
LinkedIn Premium Sales
LinkedIn Premium Sales provides tools for finding new clients and closing more deals. Key features include:
- Lead Recommendations – Get recommendations for leads most likely to respond based on your ideal customer profile.
- Expanded Search Filters – Filter searches by company, industry, job title, and more to find your best prospects.
- Contact Insights – See mutual connections, recent job changes, and other insights to build stronger relationships.
- Team Link – Share profiles and accounts across your sales team.
- Mention Notifications – Get alerts when prospects and accounts mention your company.
Premium Sales is $79.99 per month.
LinkedIn Premium Learning
LinkedIn Premium Learning provides unlimited access to over 16,000 expert-led courses covering business, creative, and technology topics. Key features include:
- Unlimited Course Access – Take as many courses as you want from LinkedIn Learning’s full course library.
- New Courses Added Daily – New courses are added daily across a wide range of subjects.
- Expert Instruction – Learn from real-world professionals and experts.
- Anytime, Anywhere Access – Learn on your schedule across any device.
- Certificates of Completion – Earn certificates to showcase your new skills.
- Skills Assessments – Measure your skills growth across several learning paths.
Premium Learning is available for $29.99 per month.
Other Premium Account Settings
In addition to the features outlined above, LinkedIn Premium members can also take advantage of:
- Ad Removal – No more annoying ads on LinkedIn.
- Premium Badges – Display badges that highlight your Premium status.
- Extended Profile Statistics – See more detailed statistics on profile views and post engagement.
- Premium Support – Get faster responses and priority support from LinkedIn’s customer service team.
Is LinkedIn Premium Worth It?
Whether one of the LinkedIn Premium subscriptions is worth the investment depends on your specific needs and how you use LinkedIn. Here are some of the key potential benefits:
- For job seekers, Premium provides networking and recruiting tools to find new opportunities.
- For sales professionals, Premium unlocks lead generation and prospecting features.
- For marketers and recruiters, Premium offers tools for connecting with audiences.
- For anyone, Premium enables expanding your reach and brand on LinkedIn.
- Premium Learning offers unlimited soft skills and business training courses.
However, the free version of LinkedIn is still highly capable for building connections, joining groups, posting articles, and conducting basic searches. So Premium may not be necessary for more casual LinkedIn users.
LinkedIn Premium Free Trial
If you’re on the fence about Premium, LinkedIn offers one-month free trials so you can test out the features firsthand. To start a free trial:
- Go to the LinkedIn Premium upgrade page.
- Select the Premium plan you want to try.
- Click the “Start your free trial” button.
- Enter your payment information (required for the eventual subscription).
- Use LinkedIn Premium features for 1 month.
- Cancel before the month ends if you don’t want to continue the paid subscription.
The free trial gives you access to all of the tools and features included in the Premium plan you selected. So it’s a great way to experience the benefits of Premium firsthand.
Conclusion
The additional features unlocked by LinkedIn Premium subscriptions can provide valuable benefits for networking, recruiting, marketing, and learning. But the free version of LinkedIn still offers core social media and profile management functionalities.
Trying out a one-month Premium free trial is the best way to determine if the paid benefits warrant the upgrade for how you personally use LinkedIn. Just be sure to cancel the auto-renew if you don’t want the subscription after the trial ends.
