Is LinkedIn Premium Worth It or Am I Just Paying to Feel Employed?
Value the Intention, not the Subscription
I have experimented with LinkedIn Premium over a number of years, which feels a little like joining a gym for your career. You sign up with good intentions, you poke around the equipment, and you hope no one notices that you are not entirely sure what half the buttons do.
The platform promises visibility, opportunity, and a sense of professional momentum. It also promises that people are looking at your profile, which is either encouraging or mildly alarming depending on the day.
LinkedIn Premium exists because the modern workplace is confusing.
People change jobs more often. Networking is no longer something you do at a conference with a name tag and a lukewarm muffin. It happens online, in messages, in comments, and in the quiet hope that someone will notice your thoughtful post about leadership. Premium steps in and says it can help you navigate all of that with a little more clarity.
So who is it for?
It is for the job seeker who wants to know if their application was actually seen by a human being.
It is for the mid-career professional who wants to understand how they compare to other applicants without spiraling into self-doubt to which I am all too familiar.
It is for the person who wants to message someone they admire without feeling like they are shouting into the void. Vendors, I see you. I still don’t respond.
It is for the curious, the ambitious, the anxious, and the quietly hopeful.
The value of Premium depends on how you use it. The platform gives you insights into who viewed your profile, which can be helpful if you are trying to understand your reach. It also gives you access to salary data, which is useful if you have spent years guessing what a job should pay and hoping you are not wildly underestimating your worth. The InMail credits allow you to reach out to people you would never meet otherwise. Sometimes those messages lead to real conversations. Sometimes they lead to silence. Either way, you tried.
One of the most underrated features is the ability to see how you stack up against other applicants. This can be encouraging if you are in the top ten percent. It can also be humbling if you are not. The feature is honest, which is refreshing in a world where most platforms try to flatter you into staying.
LinkedIn Premium tells you the truth, even when the truth is that you might need to update your skills or rethink your approach.
The learning library is another area where Premium shines. There are courses on everything from project management to emotional intelligence. Some are surprisingly good. Some feel like they were filmed in a hurry. All of them give you the chance to grow without waiting for your employer to approve a training budget. You can learn during lunch or while pretending to fold laundry. It counts.
There are also creative uses for Premium that people do not talk about.
You can use the profile views feature to understand which posts resonate with your network.
You can use the applicant insights to refine your resume.
You can use the salary data to negotiate with confidence.
You can use the InMail credits to reach out to nonprofit leaders if you want to volunteer your skills.
You can even use the learning library to train for board service or community leadership.
Premium becomes a tool for service, not just self-promotion.
Of course, it is not perfect. The price is high enough to make you pause. Some features feel like they should be free. The platform occasionally nudges you toward content that feels more like corporate fortune cookies than real insight. The job recommendations can be oddly specific or wildly off. You might get suggested for a senior engineering role even though you once broke a printer by looking at it too hard.
Still, there is value in a tool that helps you understand your professional landscape. There is value in a platform that encourages you to grow. There is value in anything that helps you feel less alone in the strange world of modern work. Premium is not magic. It will not hand you a dream job or transform your career overnight. It will give you information, access, and a sense of direction. Sometimes that is enough.
If you are considering it, ask yourself what you need right now. If you are job searching, it can be worth it. If you are exploring new roles or industries, it can be worth it. If you want to grow your skills or expand your network, it can be worth it. If you are content where you are and simply curious, you might not need it.
The value is in the intention, not the subscription.
LinkedIn Premium is a tool. It can help you build a career that feels aligned with who you are becoming. It can help you connect with people who inspire you, help you learn, help you see your own progress.
It can also remind you that your worth is not measured by profile views or applicant rankings. You are more than your metrics.
Use it if it serves you. Skip it if it does not. Either way, you are doing just fine.
As You Find Me (AYFM) is where Brad Hachez - a visionary neurodivergent creator - explores tech, faith, health, & life. Join the journey to streamline productivity, deepen relationships, & reflect on purpose with resilience, presence, and servant-hearted growth.