LinkedIn Premium is LinkedIn’s paid subscription service that unlocks additional features beyond the free basic account. Premium provides users with more tools to build their professional brand, search for jobs, connect with other professionals, and get insights on their industry.
But is the premium version worth the money? Here we’ll analyze the key benefits of LinkedIn Premium to understand its true value for different types of professionals.
Expanded Search Capabilities
One of the main advantages of LinkedIn Premium is the ability to utilize advanced search filters when viewing profiles and searching for jobs. With a premium account, you can search for profiles using filters like location, company, job title, skills, education, and more.
This makes it much easier to connect with relevant professionals in your industry or identify qualified candidates when hiring. The basic LinkedIn search is more limited.
Premium also lets you use advanced filters when searching for jobs, like date posted, location, job type, company, industry, experience level, and function. You can really customize your job search to surface highly relevant openings.
Professionals who are actively networking or job hunting get a lot of value from being able to segment their searches in this detailed way. It makes prospecting for connections and opportunities more efficient.
Finding Relevant Profiles
Here’s an example of how Premium’s advanced search helps you find ideal prospects:
| Filter | Selection |
|---|---|
| Location | San Francisco Bay Area |
| Current Company | |
| Title | Product Manager |
This surfaces product managers who work at Facebook and live in your area. A very targeted search.
Job Search Segmentation
You can also filter job searches like this:
| Filter | Selection |
|---|---|
| Date Posted | Past week |
| Location | Remote |
| Title | Software Engineer |
This returns remote software engineering roles posted in the past week. Again, very customized.
InMail Messages
One of LinkedIn Premium’s most valuable features is the ability to send InMail messages to any member, even if they’re not in your network. Regular LinkedIn only allows messaging between 1st degree connections.
InMail is hugely beneficial for sales prospecting, recruiting, networking, and pitching freelance services. You can reach anyone and make critical connections.
The number of InMails depends on your Premium plan. Here’s the InMail allowance:
| Premium Plan | # of InMails/Month |
|---|---|
| Premium Career | 25 |
| Premium Business | 150 |
| Premium Sales | 350 |
| Premium Hiring | 1800 |
For most professionals, the number of InMails is sufficient to achieve their outreach goals and build their network each month.
Sales Prospecting
For sales reps, InMail is invaluable for connecting with promising leads outside of their existing network. They can directly pitch executives, decision makers, and purchasing managers at target companies.
This “cold outreach” simply isn’t possible on the basic LinkedIn.
Recruiting
Likewise, recruiters rely on InMail to contact and engage passive job candidates who aren’t actively applying or aren’t in their network. It’s the top tool for sourcing talent.
Premium massively expands a recruiter’s reach.
Who’s Viewed Your Profile
Premium accounts get access to the full list of members who have viewed your profile recently. This allows you to see who’s looking you up.
You can then reach out and connect with these viewers to build relationships. It’s an easy way to expand your network.
Basic LinkedIn only shows the last 5 profile views. Premium reveals the full list of names.
Leveraging Profile Views
Here are some examples of how to leverage your Premium profile views:
- Connect with recruiters viewing your profile – could uncover job opportunities
- Message colleagues and peers viewing you – chance to catch up
- Thank partners and customers who visit you – strengthen relationships
Essentially, you can turn profile views into substantive connections and opportunities.
Premium Badges
With LinkedIn Premium, your profile is marked with a blue “Premium” badge to designate your subscription status. This badge has a few potential benefits.
First, it visibly signals to others that you’re invested in advancing your professional brand on LinkedIn.
Second, the badge unlocks social proof – others may view you as more influential or authoritative if you have a premium profile.
However, the badge itself doesn’t dramatically change your LinkedIn presence. It’s a nice add-on perk but not a core feature.
Premium Badge on Your Profile
Here is an example of how the Premium badge appears on your profile:
The blue checkmark icon next to your name indicates your Premium account status.
Job Seeker Insights
LinkedIn Premium provides detailed insights about your job application activity, which can help you land jobs more successfully.
You can see how you stack up against other candidates who have applied for the same role based on location, title, experience, education, and skills.
Premium also shows you when hiring managers view your application, how your skills relate to the job description, and what skills you need to develop based on the roles you’re interested in.
For professionals who are actively interviewing and applying, these insights are extremely useful for refining your resume, skilling up, and determining where to focus your search.
Sample Insights
Here are some examples of the insights delivered through Premium:
- “250+ other applicants based in Denver with 5-7 years experience have applied.”
- “Hiring manager viewed your application on October 25.”
- “You are missing required skill: Agile Methodology.”
These specific tips help you present the strongest application possible.
Salary Insights
LinkedIn Premium lets you access salary data for specific job titles in selected cities. You can see average, low, and high salary ranges.
This information helps you negotiate compensation, ensure you’re getting paid fairly, and budget appropriately when starting a new job.
The salary insights are powered by data LinkedIn collects from user profiles, job listings, and other sources.
Example Salary Data
Here’s what the salary insights look like for a Software Engineer in San Francisco:
| Salary Stat | Amount |
|---|---|
| Average Base Salary | $105,000 |
| 10th Percentile | $85,000 |
| 25th Percentile | $97,000 |
| 75th Percentile | $118,000 |
| 90th Percentile | $140,000 |
This provides a good range to benchmark salaries when negotiating.
Skill Assessments
LinkedIn Premium includes access to skill assessments to validate your proficiency across common software, technology, and business skills.
You take short multiple choice tests on everything from Microsoft Excel, to Project Management, to Customer Service. There are over 140 assessments available.
After passing an assessment, you can showcase a verified skill on your profile. This signals your expertise to recruiters, hiring managers, and colleagues.
Top Assessments
Here are some of the top skill assessments on LinkedIn:
- Excel
- PowerPoint
- Salesforce
- SQL
- Javascript
- Leadership
Verified skills help you stand out and give your profile more credibility.
Online Courses & Learning Tools
LinkedIn Premium includes LinkedIn Learning, which offers over 15,000 online video courses taught by industry experts across software, creative, and business topics.
You can access personalized course recommendations based on the skills you want to develop. Courses are available on desktop or mobile.
This is a great asset for learning new skills and staying up-to-date on your profession. The course library is massive and highly practical.
Most Popular Courses
Here are some of LinkedIn Learning’s most popular online courses:
- Excel Essential Training
- Communicating with Confidence
- Time Management Fundamentals
- Programming Foundations: Databases
- Leadership Strategies for Women
The quality content keeps you continuously developing relevant skills.
Company Research Tools
LinkedIn Premium provides research tools to analyze target companies you want to learn more about, whether for sales prospecting, job research, networking, or other purposes.
You can access in-depth company pages with employee demographics, news articles, job postings, related companies, and other details.
This information helps you understand company org structures, identify connections, and assess company culture.
Sample Company Insights
Here are some examples of what the company research tools provide:
- Org chart with top executives
- Current employee trends (growth, etc)
- Open job postings
- Related companies and competitors
- News articles related to the company
These details help you prepare for sales calls, interviews, and other interactions.
Larger Profile Photo
LinkedIn Premium enables you to upload a larger profile photo than the basic free account. Premium supports images up to 8MB with minimum dimensions of 400×400 pixels.
The increased size allows your photo to be viewed more clearly in the small profile thumbnail image.
A professional headshot is still recommended for the full profile view, but the larger thumbnail photo does make a difference.
Profile Photo Size Limits
| Account Type | Max File Size | Minimum Dimensions |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | 2MB | 200×200 px |
| Premium | 8MB | 400×400 px |
So Premium provides 4x larger image uploads.
How-to Video Library
LinkedIn Premium offers access to an exclusive library of over 500 “how-to” videos with tips for maximizing your LinkedIn profile and usage.
These quick videos delivered by LinkedIn experts provide tactics for areas like:
- Optimizing your profile
- Growing your network
- Finding a job
- Using Premium tools
- Sharing content
For visual learners, the video lessons make it easier to utilize LinkedIn more effectively and derive full value from Premium.
Sample Video Topics
Some sample topic titles from the how-to video library include:
- “Guide to Adding Skills to Your Profile”
- “How to Change Your Profile Photo”
- “Tips for Writing an Effective Summary Section”
- “Introduction to Search Alerts”
Short and practical tutorials to boost your LinkedIn skills.
Discounts on LinkedIn Services
LinkedIn Premium members can access exclusive discounts on LinkedIn professional services, including:
- LinkedIn coach – one-on-one training to optimize your profile and approach
- Resume review – expert evaluation and tips
- Job seeker essentials – tailored job seeking guidance
- Business branding – amplified company presence
Discounts range from 25% to 50% off regular pricing. This perk provides some savings if you want more hands-on professional assistance.
Sample Discounted Services
| Service | Regular Price | Discounted Price |
|---|---|---|
| 1-on-1 Coach (monthly) | $99/month | $75/month |
| Executive Resume Review | $400 | $200 |
| Essential Job Seeker (one-time) | $200 | $150 |
Premium cuts your costs if you choose to leverage LinkedIn’s experts.
Conclusion
There are clearly a wide range of benefits included with a LinkedIn Premium subscription. The additional features, tools, insights, and resources provide substantial value.
In particular, Premium empowers professionals who are actively networking, prospecting, recruiting, changing jobs, or enhancing their brand.
The ability to search profiles based on filters, reach outside your network with InMail, and access salary data make LinkedIn far more powerful.
While Premium isn’t mandatory, users who regularly utilize LinkedIn for career or business development can gain meaningful advantages from the paid features.
For around $30 per month, Premium unlocks functionality that saves time, opens up opportunities, and elevates your professional presence.
In most cases, busy executives, recruiters, salespeople, marketers, job seekers, and freelancers can easily justify the subscription cost given the utility it provides.
The additional visibility, insights, communication channels, and tools empower professionals to achieve their social and career goals more effectively.