As a professional looking to advance your career, LinkedIn can be an invaluable tool for networking, building your personal brand, and exploring new job opportunities. While you can access many of LinkedIn’s basic features for free, LinkedIn also offers several paid membership options that provide additional benefits.
Upgrading to a paid LinkedIn subscription provides a number of advantages that can help take your career to the next level. Here is an overview of some of the key benefits you can get from a paid LinkedIn membership.
Increased profile visibility
One of the main perks of paying for LinkedIn is increased visibility for your profile and activity. With a free account, your profile only shows up in limited search results and suggestions. But with a premium account, your profile gets broader exposure in LinkedIn searches, Recruiter searches, and recommendations for people to connect with.
This makes it much easier for relevant people in your industry to find and view your profile. Having an easily discoverable profile is essential for networking opportunities and standing out in the job market.
See detailed profile views
LinkedIn’s premium accounts show you detailed analytics on who has viewed your profile. You can see the titles, locations, and companies of people checking out your profile. You also see when they viewed your profile and what content they engaged with.
These insights help you understand how your profile is resonating with people and which types of viewers you’re attracting. You can use this data to refine your profile content to appeal to your target audience.
Unlimited profile search
With a free account, you can only view limited profile search results. Premium access enables unlimited profile searches so you can thoroughly scout people at specific companies or with certain job titles and skills.
Unlimited searches make it easier to identify and connect with relevant contacts for your career goals. You can more effectively search for decision makers, experts in your industry, potential partners, clients, and more.
InMail messages
Premium LinkedIn memberships provide a monthly allowance of InMail messages that let you directly contact any LinkedIn user, even if you’re not connected. This is a significant upgrade from free accounts, which can only message 1st-degree connections.
InMail is invaluable for getting introduced to contacts outside your network. You can use InMails to personalize outreach and increase your chances of getting responses from recruiters, hiring managers, potential collaborators, industry influencers, and more.
Sample InMail benefits
InMail Benefit | Description |
---|---|
Initiate introductions | Directly reach out to key contacts outside your network |
Personalized messaging | Craft customized messages to stand out |
Higher response rates | InMails get more responses than basic connection requests |
Job posting insights
Premium accounts unlock valuable data on job postings that you apply to through LinkedIn. You can see how many applicants a job post has, how you stack up against other candidates, and how long the job has been listed.
These insights give you a better understanding of the competition for the role so you can refine your application accordingly. The data helps you determine if a post is gaining traction or at risk of being filled quickly so you can prioritize applications.
Key job insights
Insight | Benefit |
---|---|
Application numbers | Gauge competition and demand for the role |
Candidate comparison | See how your profile stacks up against other applicants |
Posting duration | Determine if the role is newly listed or at risk of closing |
Interview preparation tools
LinkedIn’s premium tiers provide useful tools to help you prepare for upcoming interviews. You can view the profiles of people interviewing you to customize your responses and talking points.
You also get access to guides for developing common interview skills. This allows you to practice and improve at key interview aspects like storytelling, asking thoughtful questions, and talking about yourself effectively.
Key interview preparation features
Feature | How It Helps |
---|---|
Interviewer profile lookup | Research your interviewers for tailored responses |
Skills practice guide | Improve interview skills like storytelling |
Interview insights | View common interview questions at a company |
Expanded network and search filters
Paying for LinkedIn provides filters that allow you to narrow your search results by criteria like location, job title, company size, and years of experience. This makes it easier to pinpoint contacts that align with your specific networking and hiring goals.
You also gain access to the entire LinkedIn network. Free accounts can only access a limited preview of search results outside of their network. With a premium account, you can expand your reach to tap into the full 550+ million LinkedIn members.
Salary data
LinkedIn’s premium tiers unlock access to their extensive salary database. You can look up detailed, real-time salary data for a wide range of job titles, companies, and locations.
This allows you to benchmark salaries as you navigate your career. The salary insights help you negotiate compensation when changing jobs or ask for raises at your current company.
Key ways to use salary data
Action | Salary Data Benefit |
---|---|
Compare job offers | Gauge if an offer is competitive for the role and location |
Negotiate raises | Back up requests for higher pay with market data |
Research target companies | Understand pay standards at companies of interest |
Learning and development tools
LinkedIn Learning comes bundled with higher-tier premium accounts, providing unlimited access to thousands of expert-led courses. You can develop in-demand business, technology, and creative skills to grow in your career.
Some examples of the topics covered include leadership, software programs, data science, design, marketing, sales, HR, and more. Premium accounts get new courses added regularly as well.
Major ways LinkedIn Learning helps
Benefit | Description |
---|---|
Build hard skills | Master technical abilities like Excel, Photoshop, and more |
Develop soft skills | Improve leadership, communication, and emotional intelligence |
Stay up-to-date | Keep pace with new trends and best practices in your field |
Recruiter outreach
Having a premium LinkedIn account boosts your chances of being contacted by recruiters. Recruiters rely heavily on LinkedIn for candidate searches and outreach.
The increased profile visibility and complete network access provided by premium tiers makes you more discoverable to recruiters. This typically leads to more unsolicited recruiter messages and calls presenting new job opportunities.
Conclusion
Paying for a premium LinkedIn subscription can provide substantial value for career-minded professionals. The expanded profile visibility, search capabilities, networking tools, hiring insights, and education resources make it easier to build your brand, land jobs, and exceed career goals.
While LinkedIn’s free service provides a solid baseline, upgrading to a premium account takes your LinkedIn presence to the next level. The paid features allow you to leverage LinkedIn’s massive professional network much more strategically.
If you regularly use LinkedIn for networking and career advancement, a premium subscription can be well worth the investment. The enhanced capabilities help you maximize the opportunities LinkedIn provides in today’s digital job market.