Job Market is getting tougher with each passing day. To fill one vacancy, there are more than 100 applicants. You see it’s getting more competitive and everybody is equally talented and has an excellent skill set. Over the last decade, the job market has also changed drastically. Now applicants are approaching the companies digitally i.e., LinkedIn.
LinkedIn has become a hub for both employers and job seekers. Finding a job has now become a little easier for employers. But still using the basic membership account will not get the job done. There are hundreds of people applying for the same job, you need some brownie points to crack the job. Here is where the LinkedIn premium comes into the picture.
What is LinkedIn Premium?
LinkedIn has best features, but if you’re serious about getting a job then you must have a premium account. With Premium, you got an advantage compared to free users. You can discover new opportunities with it and boost your career. It provides you with insights to find a job that fits you. LinkedIn premium provides those insights based on your past experience, skills, salary requirements, etc. You can even get the attention from the right people, with the Premium account you can check whether recruiters have seen your profile. It helps you in taking your job search in the right direction. You can even take on-demand courses or add in-demand skills from LinkedIn learning. Simply put, you will receive double the attention with premium.
What is the difference between free and premium account?
To understand the differences between free and premium account. You must know about the services basic account offers. With a basic account, you can maintain a professional identity online and connect with other professionals within or outside your industry to build a network. It allows you to request only 5 introductions at a time. Not all the advanced features are available for a basic account but there are limited features you can access. You can receive unlimited Inmails but not send them. But with a premium account, you can access all the advanced features and there are many other benefits including the ones available with a free account.
Here are the expanded features of the LinkedIn premium account
InMail
InMail is the messaging feature of LinkedIn, with it you can connect with anyone outside your connections too. With a basic account, you can receive unlimited InMails but cannot send them. So with a premium account, you don’t have to worry about it. You can contact recruiters directly it will take your job search to the next level and make it easier. If you don’t get a response for your Inmail then you get a credit to contact someone else. You can purchase Inmails without premium account too, but it will cost you $10 each. LinkedIn help centre will help you in learning more about Inmails including tips on how to send them.
Search filters
If you want to improve your network then you must expand it. With a minimum of 100 search results, it gets hard to expand so for those planning to expand their network the premium account is useful. Premium account types except for jobseekers has a minimum of 300 search results. If you’re wondering why are search results important? With it, you can meet people relating to your industry and improve your skills and connections. You never know, from where the opportunity knocks your door, right? So, you must keep yourself ready and prepared. Getting a premium account is the first step of many.
Not only search results it even has search filters that make things easy. It has filters based on seniority, interests, company size, fortune 1000. For the highest plan for each premium account type, it includes premium and talent filters based on your groups, experience, function etc. There are many filters in premium accounts for recruiters that helps them in finding the best candidates for the vacancy. It even has filters to find people new to LinkedIn, with it you can connect with new people who have LinkedIn recently.
See who viewed your profile
One of the best things about LinkedIn is you can see who has viewed your profile. It allows you to see how many recruiters have taken an interest in your profile. But the problem is, with a basic account you can view three profiles who visited your profile. So, upgrading to premium can help you in understanding better where you’re job search is leading you. In basic account, you have to turn off your privacy settings to see who visited your profile. With a premium account, you don’t have to give up on your privacy to get such results. You will see the list of people who viewed your profile and keywords that got them to your profile. This feature can help you understand if your profile is getting the attention of the right people or not.
Open link network
This feature allows you to connect with anyone on LinkedIn without any introduction or connection. In basic account, you must be connected or get introduced by your connections. Open link network will help you in your job search as recruiters can approach you easily without any requirement of connection. It is an open chance for you to connect with a lot of people within your industry and it may ultimately lead to an opportunity.
Connection with executives
Business executives usually have their profiles insulated with privacy settings. But with a premium account, you can contact these executives through InMail and build your network. Connecting with high profile people will benefit you in many ways. You can expand your network and acquire knowledge from them. Not to mention the response rate to InMail compared to traditional email. InMail can be personalized by adding your key skills etc and it gives them an idea of your skillset. You can connect with recruiters also making your job search a success.
Profile Organizer
LinkedIn premium’s profile organizer will help you in organising your contacts. All you have to do is save their profiles to your organizer and then organize them by adding them to a different folder. If you’re a person dealing with multiple industries then it can get confusing, organising your profile will help you in finding people easily. Creating different folders will save and energy as you may have thousands of connections in your network. You can create a folder of recruiter from your connections and approach them when you’re looking for a job or a job change.
Premium account types
Jobseekers
It is exclusive for job seekers. Premium career offers insights and exclusive tools to advance your career and get a new job. It helps you in discovering companies and jobs that fit you and help you see who’s showing interest in your profile. Premium Career offers to teach you new skills that can help you to advance in your career. It provides you with salary and job insights. The price ranges from $19.99/month.
Recruiters
Premium account recruiters provide them with special filters and other features such as talent-finding filters, reference search, saved search and alerts for new people who created a LinkedIn account in your criteria. All these features will help them in attracting and acquiring the finest talent. Recently LinkedIn has become the perfect place for recruiters to search for people to fill vacancies.
Sales Professionals
This account is specifically for sales professionals who are looking for ways to improve their sales. It has specific features that can help them reach their goals such as lead builder organizer, connecting with their targeting companies and much more.
General Users
This account type includes features for general users. It comes with features such as InMail, premium search filters etc. these features help you in expanding your network, see more profiles when you search and more. This account has privileges more than a basic account. It allows you to send unlimited InMails and connect with more people.
Is Premium Worth it?
If you’re actively searching for a job, then any extra help that will help you in sealing the deal is worth it. A LinkedIn Premium account will provide you with tools and insights that can help you in cracking a job fast. If you have a premium account it shows recruiters you’re serious in your trials and are willing to go the extra mile to reach your goal. It is not that you would get a job with a basic account, this premium account is the helping hand that will help you gain leverage over other applicants. If you feel like these additional features are not helping any way you can cancel your premium account anytime or better try the 30-day free trial version before signing up. Lastly, you wouldn’t know whether the premium account is worth it or not until you try it.
Conclusion
LinkedIn is bringing recruiters and job seekers together. It is paving way for job seekers to apply to dream jobs. The job seekers are connecting with companies or recruiters directly. Its features are helping them in cracking a job quicker and helping them in expanding their network. LinkedIn premium account is just an extension of the basic accounts and allows you to advance in your career faster. It has additional advanced features that basic account doesn’t offer and with it, you gain an advantage over other applicants and it will help you in finding a job that is right for you. So, what are you waiting for? Try LinkedIn premium account and find your dream job.
