Linkedin Premium on a student budget – is it worth it?

Since joining LinkedIn a few years ago, I have been inundated with regular emails tempting me to join LinkedIn Premium. I read the first email where it looked tempting and then I looked at the price, and ever since, sent it straight to my deleted folder.

However, since graduation is looming, it has made me think: will I ever find my perfect job? As a geology student, one thing that I have always found difficult is finding companies that I could potentially pester about an internship or a job. There are many jobs available, but they are so difficult to find since many jobs are filled internally, I can’t imagine many students ever come across them on the internet.

I’ve had many rejections in the past, offering my spare hands freely, to shadow and gain what it really is like to be a geologist in industry. I remember phoning a company in my home town, to be told I couldn’t work shadow someone since I had no family members working for the firm. Sometimes it really is who you know and not what you know.

Finally, I decided to take LinkedIn up on their Premium offer. A month’s free trial as a Job Seeker, followed by payments of £22.99 per month. It must be good to charge users so much! The ‘free’ aspect was the decision maker. I set myself a challenge to see just how effective LinkedIn Premium is! Would I receive a job offer before my free trial is up? Mission accepted.

In order to really give myself a chance, I visited Careers and attended an Application and Selection Coaching appointment to improve my LinkedIn account. Now I have an ‘All-Star’ profile and I’m ready to go…

Being a LinkedIn Job Seeker, what new benefits did this give me and my ability to obtain a job?
  • I could now see who exactly was viewing my profile. No more hidden viewers. This let me reach out to them.
  • I could message anyone and more importantly anyone could message me!
  • You can apply for jobs as a Featured Applicant – you’re application will appear above those who don’t have the Premium subscription, making your profile more likely of being viewed.

The job hunt began and saw me apply to numerous geological jobs. For each job listing, it tells you just how many applicants had applied and in some cases, it was hundreds which was really surprising. It tells you how you rank in comparison to your competitors – this could be good or bad!

To summarise…

Was I offered a job within the one month free trial? No.

How possible is it to be offered a position? This depends on your profile! I think in a few months, I could have.

Would I continue my Premium membership? No. Admittedly, it’s a good addition. But as a student, it is way too pricey. I could get a few months of Netflix for the same price…

Would I consider it in the future? Definitely.


Something that I should mention is that the industry that I would like to enter one day is currently in a bad way. Metal prices have affected the mining industry drastically and unfortunately exploration geologists are at the forefront of cuts as companies begin to reduce their expenditure. What I’m trying to emphasise is don’t let me put you off LinkedIn Premium. Try it for yourself and let me know how you get on.

Reblogged. Original post http://studentblogs.le.ac.uk/geology/2016/01/25/linkedin-premium-on-a-student-budget-is-it-worth-it/

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