LinkedIn premium offers many benefits for job seekers, professionals, and businesses. The paid subscriptions provide access to features like InMail, unlimited profile views, advanced search filters, and learning courses. However, the premium plans do come at a cost. A basic LinkedIn premium account starts at $29.99 per month. For many people, especially those currently unemployed or new graduates, this ongoing expense may not be feasible.
Why Get LinkedIn Premium?
Here are some of the key benefits of LinkedIn premium:
- InMail: Send direct messages to anyone on LinkedIn, even if they’re not in your network.
- Unlimited profile views: View full profiles and see who’s viewed your profile.
- Advanced search filters: Narrow your search by company, job title, location, and more.
- Learning courses: Access over 16,000 expert-led courses to build your skills.
- Premium branding: Stand out with a premium badge on your profile.
For job seekers, the ability to contact recruiters directly via InMail and see who’s viewed your profile are incredibly valuable. Premium also helps working professionals research companies and build their skills. Overall, it enhances your LinkedIn experience and unlocks extra features for networking and career development.
Get a Free Trial
LinkedIn offers one month free trials of LinkedIn Premium. This allows you to test out premium features before committing to a paid subscription. To get your free trial:
- Go to the LinkedIn Premium upgrade page.
- Select “Start your free trial.”
- Choose your preferred monthly plan.
- Enter your payment details (don’t worry, you won’t get charged during the trial).
- Start using LinkedIn Premium!
The free trial gives you full access to LinkedIn Premium for one month. Make the most of it by utilizing premium messaging, search filters, and courses. Just be sure to cancel before the trial ends if you don’t want to be charged.
Use a Student Discount
Students can get LinkedIn Premium at a heavily discounted rate. The Student plan costs just $14.99 per month, 50% off the regular Premium price. To get this discount:
- Go to the LinkedIn Premium for students page.
- Click “Get started.”
- Verify your student status with a .edu email or other documentation.
- Choose a monthly or annual Student plan.
- Make your discounted purchase!
This student offer is renewable for up to four years while you remain a student. Unfortunately it’s only available for full-time students at this time.
Split the Cost of a Family Plan
LinkedIn Premium offers a Family plan that allows up to 6 members. It costs $54.99 per month, so splitting it with others brings the cost down substantially. If the plan is maxed out, it comes to just $9.16 per person.
To utilize a family plan:
- Find up to 5 other people to join your family plan.
- Agree to split the monthly cost evenly – use a spreadsheet to track.
- Have one person purchase the Family plan as the primary account holder.
- That person can then assign the other 5 spots to members.
- Log in and enjoy your shared subscription!
A family plan allows you to access premium features at a fraction of the regular price. Just make sure all members contribute fairly and you renew on time each month.
Use Premium for Free with Your Company’s LinkedIn Recruiter Plan
If your company has a LinkedIn Recruiter plan, you may already have access to a premium subscription. Many Recruiter packages include a certain number of LinkedIn Premium licenses that can be assigned to employees.
To get LinkedIn Premium through your work:
- Ask your HR department or hiring manager if the company has a Recruiter account.
- Inquire about Premium licenses being allotted to employees as part of the company’s contract.
- Request to have a Premium license assigned to you if any are available.
- Once assigned, you can start using Premium at no personal cost!
This is a great job benefit to ask about during salary negotiations or performance reviews. Having LinkedIn Premium can help you more effectively network and apply for jobs, even while employed.
Team Up for a Premium Job Seeker Plan
LinkedIn offers a special Job Seeker Premium plan at $29.99 per month. Up to 4 members can join a single Job Seeker plan to split the cost. This reduces the monthly price to just $7.49 per person.
To get the discount:
- Partner with up to 3 other job seekers to join the same plan.
- Have one person sign up for the Job Seeker Premium account.
- They can send invites to the other members to join the plan.
- Split the $29.99 evenly between members each month.
The Job Seeker plan gives full access to Premium features. Team up with friends or colleagues to save substantially on this discounted plan.
Find a Free Premium Trial Offer
Some companies occasionally partner with LinkedIn to offer free trials of Premium. For example, the Capital One Career Builder program previously offered 6 months of complimentary Premium. Keep an eye out for special promotions like this.
You may be able to find free trials through:
- Your credit card rewards program
- Giveaways from LinkedIn Marketing Partners
- Sweepstakes or contests
- Company and industry conferences or events
- Student and community groups
Actively look for current deals and you may get lucky with finding a temporarily free Premium offer. However, this is typically short-term access only.
Use a VPN with a Cheaper Country
LinkedIn Premium costs vary somewhat by country. For example, it costs $29.99 in the US but just $19.90 in countries like Malaysia. Technically, you can use a VPN service to trick LinkedIn into thinking you are signing up from a cheaper country.
However, this does violate LinkedIn’s terms of service. Also, your payment method still needs to match the country you are impersonating. The savings are usually not worth the risk and effort involved.
Wait for Black Friday or Cyber Monday Deals
LinkedIn has offered Premium discounts during major sales holidays like Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the past. Deals have included:
- 25-50% off annual Premium subscriptions
- $1 for your first month of Premium
- 2 months free when you purchase an annual plan
Around the holiday shopping season, check the LinkedIn website and your email for exclusive discount offers. Savings are typically biggest on 12-month Premium memberships.
Find Someone with a Free Extra License
Sometimes when purchasing Premium, LinkedIn provides the option to add one or two extra licenses at no cost. People who receive these free add-ons may be willing to give them away.
You may be able to find someone with an unused Premium license by:
- Asking on your personal social media accounts
- Posting in LinkedIn Groups or forums
- Reaching out directly to connections who may have Premium
- Searching LinkedIn hashtags like #LinkedInPremium
This is probably the easiest way to get free short-term access to Premium features. Just be aware the extra licenses eventually expire, so it’s not an indefinite solution.
Use Premium Features Free with a Chrome Extension
While LinkedIn does not publicly condone or allow this, some Chrome browser extensions claim to unlock Premium features for free. Examples include:
- LinkedIn Premium Free – YourFreePremium.Com
- Premium for LinkedIn
- LinkedHelper – Get LinkedIn Premium Features for Free
After installing, these extensions may allow things like seeing who viewed your profile, searching profiles anonymously, and sending InMail messages without a Premium account. However, extensions like this often stop working after some time.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, there is no guaranteed, lasting way to get full LinkedIn Premium access completely free forever. LinkedIn is a business and needs paying members to operate.
The best free options involve trials, student discounts, family plans, or shared job seeker packages. You can also watch for special promotions around the holidays. Splitting the cost of Premium with others helps makes the expense more manageable.
While browser extensions claiming to unlock Premium exist, they violate LinkedIn’s terms and may stop working at anytime. Proceed with caution and avoid options that seem sketchy or illegal.
Premium provides valuable benefits for networking, job seeking and professional development. If you can utilize the free trials or discounts, even for short periods, it is worth trying out. But sustained use will likely require some cost, either paid solely by you or split with others.
In today’s competitive job market, it helps to use all available tools at your disposal. So take advantage of the deals available, but be wary of anything promising LinkedIn Premium for free permanently.
LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/premium
LinkedIn premium plans and pricing: https://premium.linkedin.com/premium/plans
How to cancel LinkedIn Premium: https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/42631/canceling-your-premium-subscription?lang=en
LinkedIn Premium discounts: https://learn.linkedin.com/premium
Student Discount: https://www.linkedin.com/premium/products/university
Job Seeker Discount: https://www.linkedin.com/premium/products/jobseeker
Capital One LinkedIn Partnership: https://www.capitalone.com/associates/business/sparkbusiness/partners/linkedin-premium-free-trial
Unlock Premium Chrome Extensions:
- https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/linkedin-premium-free-you/ecgiflcamfpagnnmelgdbbgjnachohj?hl=en
- https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/premium-for-linkedin/bkaeianaihlinekomjkhecfnkhppipej?hl=en
- https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/linkedhelper-get-linkedin/fddakhnjkeocecpnimnlelpoaolelklj?hl=en
LinkedIn Terms of Service: https://www.linkedin.com/legal/user-agreement
Other tips for getting the most out of LinkedIn:
- Craft a strong profile summary – This is one of the first things people will see on your profile.
- Expand your network – Connect with colleagues, classmates, recruiters and others in your industry.
- Get recommendations – Ask managers, colleagues, professors, etc. to write recommendations to showcase your skills.
- Follow companies – Stay up-to-date on companies you’re interested in and get notified of new job postings.
- Join groups – Find relevant industry groups to join, comment on posts and make connections.
- Publish content – Share articles, images, videos and other media to build your professional brand.
- Use hashtags – Include relevant hashtags like #accounting or #socialmediamarketing to expand reach.
- Customize your URL – Claim a unique LinkedIn URL with your name to be more searchable.
- Complete your profile – Fill out all sections, including experience, education, skills, and languages.
- Get noticed by recruiters – Optimize your profile to increase visibility in LinkedIn searches.