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I had it for the trial as well, but I didn't see much of a difference. I never used the InMail or whatever it is to begin with, so I didn't see much of a benefit. If you use the InMail to do cold-contacting, then it is worth it, seeing as how you get a lot more to use.
We use LinkedIn premium at WSO through my account and it has proven pretty useful if I don't have any direct contacts to the person we are trying to get in touch with. For example, to tell 85 Broads about the WSO Conference and do a group discount for them, I was able to contact someone high up in the organization to explain what WSO was and the conference...and got a great response back. That is value..
Used it on and off... I paid just so I could see full names, and then used Google to find a better way to network. I paid the $30/mo for that alone, because that's what it cost. It's just not even close to being worth it to me to stay premium though.
why would someone talk to you just because you paid to get their contact info so you could message them?
It would only add value if you can add value to the counter-party in the first place
Yea, use if you need to cold email someone. That's it. BUT, if you do the free trial, they need your credit card number, and if you don't manually cancel when your free trial expires, it will bill you for the next month and until you cancel. That's kind of their scheme. Nevertheless, it's free.
I don't really see the point. You'll come across pretty desperate if you send InMail. It's much better to network when you guys have something in common (common connections, went to the same school, etc.), then they're probably in your network already.
I have used both Premium and the free (basic) account.
It's ridiculously expensive. I suppose if you end up getting a nice job as a result then perhaps it was a worthwhile purchase but otherwise, no.
Premium is so inexpensive that I let it run for four or six months after the trial in order to see if would bring anything. As expected, it didn't. I tried a couple of times to send InMail to HR people at the various places where I have applied; they were clearly confused and irritated at me for not following standard procedures. And I understand them, I have to say. And I can only imagine how annoying the featured applicant feature must be for someone looking for the right candidate... It's fun to able to see who looked at your profiles but that's about it.
Being a manager myself who has to hire now and then it occurred to me recently that I never actually thought of looking up candidates on LinkedIn. How could I then be so foolish as to believe that it would help me in my own job search? Just a thought... Anyway, I guess the thing with LinkedIn is that it cannot really do anything for people who don't stand out already because of their skills, experience, results etc. and I guess that goes for most of us.
I cancelled my Premium now - money for nothing is too expensive in the long run.
LONG TIME LINKEDIN USER HERE in short: not worth it
I know this thread is old but saw matayo's comment and had to agree completely.. my old company paid for the level above "Sales Navigator" (forget what it was called) and it was like $150 a month or something ridiculous.. was completely useless.. you still dont get to see everyone's details! there are like 4/5 tiers, and they're always pushing you to upgrade..
Spend a third of the money on a Brazzers subscription and you'll be good to go!
shieet dude motherless.com is free
I've found it to be worth it for primary research. For finding a job... no.
Don't waste your money
You can actually access private profiles by copy and pasting the the profile header in google. Follow that link through and you have access to the full profile. With regards to contacting, I prefer looking at the structure of their company's email and email them. Seems more convenient to respond via email instead of linkedin.
Linkedin Premium (Originally Posted: 06/22/2013)
Hey all,
So I've started thinking about internship season for the fall, and recently saw on linkedin that they're offering a special promotion for the first month off (0 in fees) for upgrading to linkedin premium.
Since many of you surely use the service, do any of you think it's worth it? I'm not necessarily sure of what field I want to go into, so do you think a higher degree of networking on linkedin is only beneficial for those who have an interest in banking?
Any general thoughts?
Pic unrelated
Nice pic. I think the main benefit of premium are the InMails. I have used InMails very effectively, I think they are the best way to conduct a cold message, and they have 5x the success rate, in my experience, of opening leads (around 30-40% of my cold InMails go somewhere, vs. sub-10% for cold emails). Thus, the InMails are a big plus. The added filters, search terms, etc I do not tend to use as much, but they are added functionality that could be useful. The Premium Badge may also indicate you are a serious applicant who really wants to find work. Basically, start trying to build your network using InMails and by screening people using your filters, get to meet them, secure that internship, and go back to not paying $50 per month. It is ridiculous how LinkedIn has priced InMails at $10 per InMail. Happy hunting!
Thanks for your input. I've actually never used inmails, I suppose I'll have to give them a go
I did that fre trial before also. Just be sure to cancel (if that is your intent)! I mainly used it to be able to see more profiles, since it shows ones not in my network. I never used the InMail though because I would just figure out their company one instead, but there have been post on here about people successfully establishing their network solely using InMail and Linkedin searching.
What type of internship are you aiming for? Regardless of industry, it doesn't hurt to build a network.
Any other people want to comment on this?
Didn't this service used to be free?
Get it for the InMails. As above poster pointed out, they usually receive very high success rate (maybe because the individual is notified in their personal email of the contact) and it is a great way to introduce yourself to people. Also, if you have relevant or shared contacts, it is even easier as they will usually be more receptive of your enquries.
Actually, I received my current position in part due to an InMail message which lead to my resume being pushed along by someone at the firm.
Regards
The "featured applicant" thing on jobs also helped. It puts you at the top of the list of applicants and highlights your application. I got a number of interviews off of their jobs site when I was applying and I'm willing to bet this feature played a part
Worth it paying for LinkedIn? (Originally Posted: 08/05/2010)
Gents,
Is it actually worth it going the full monty and paying for an upgraded LinkedIn account?
My only concern with the regular account is that sending an email to people may be perceived as spam/inappropriate, so use of the InMail feature may be better for networking.
Otherwise it's ridiculously expensive.
Thoughts?
I've gotten by by writing a message in the join my network invitation, it's worked thus far..Probably easier to message them directly but this is more economical.
InMail is useless/way too expensive. Just stick with sending messages/emails to people you can see/send messages to. Obviously you won't get the best response rate but some people will respond still
Yeah, if LinkedIn wants to increase their subscriber base they need to offer more than just inmails.
in my own experience, not worth it at all! maybe its because of the region i was seeking a job in, but not the best way to reach out.
No, I try to not even write messages on Linkedin. I use it more to find people that have some sort of common ground with me and then try to find their email address through the convection of their work email. I have found this strategy to be much more efficient since not everyone checks Linkedin all the time and it is usually much more of a hassle to go back and respond to a message on Linkedin compared to a generic email.
Yah or if you have their name you might be able to call their corporate operator and have them direct you through to the person... although a call after finding someone on linkedin might be a little over the creepy line lol
I hate Linkedin. Why can't they just let you upload your resume!? You have to either type it in, or load a word document from which it automatically fills in your profile (incorrectly most of the time).
Like the poster above stated, it is easier to find the contact through linkedin and then email them at their work address. Even I find myself ignoring linkedin messages at times unless it's someone I already know and then I just email them at their personal addy.
LINKEDIN Job seeker Premium worth it?? (Originally Posted: 12/04/2010)
Is it worth paying for linkedin's Job seeker premium feature?
I used it for about a month and thought it was pretty worthless. Only nice thing is you can see who views your profile. Other than that it is a waste of $30
No
There's a free trial for the $24.99 business. Sign up, get credit card charged, cancel before 30 days. That's worth it.
Which linkedin premium account type should I get? (Originally Posted: 10/04/2012)
Hey everyone,
Several people on the forum have made suggestions to upgrade to LinkedIn premium in order to get better networking access. My question is, which premium account should I upgrade to? My options are:
Business ($25/mo): 3 InMails per month, 300 profiles when I search. Business Plus ($50/mo): 10 InMails per month, 500 profiles when I search. Executive ($100/mo): 25 InMails per month, 700 profiles when I search.
I know that InMails can be very valuable, but they are quite expensive. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what would be a cheaper way to reach out to these LinkedIn contacts?
Many thanks!
crazi, please post in the appropriate forum (this was moved to Get a Job forum).
I'd start with Business and if you hit the 3 targeted emails per month and think you could easily hit the 10 given a strong investment into networking, I'd do that. But start on the lower version first and see if those 3 InMails are paying dividends with meetings...
I think once you get into networking, if you're doing it right you'll quickly move up to Business Plus and expand your network. Think of how much you pay in tuition...do you think these are expensive now?
Disclaimer, I use an Exec account and I'm long LinkedIn stock :-)
What about the job seeker account? I'm doing buy-side recruiting and would like to put myself out there, but worry about being called out by current co-workers.
Do the first package, if any. You'll be able to piece together emails for 90% of the people you want to contact on that site just by finding the standard email structures.
Honestly, it's not worth it. I had a one month free trial and I just can't find a justification for paying to use it. I was looking to contact alum and they were all in the same groups I was in, which means InMail was useless since I could directly message them. Also, I thought by upgrading to premium it would reveal all those "anonymous users" who check out my profile. Sadly, that wasn't the case.
After the trial ended, I didn't re-subscribe. Now I'm on a free account again.
is Linkedin worth 25 bucks a month? (Originally Posted: 11/14/2010)
???
Not if you already have a solid network. But for a college senior, yes.
I'd generally say no, but what are you trying to get out of it?
nothing really... i just want to see who is searching me.. avg like 30 a day over last few months
I searched you once or twice after your posted some energy rodeo stuff. You probably have a lot of hits from WSO members (and lurkers).
You can click to see who's viewed you with the free version, usually gives some combination of useful (eg, someone you know) and completely useless (eg, someone in the Finance industry at JPMorgan). I'd imagine the people viewing your profile would roughly align with the people searching you. If you're really that curious though, then I'd go for it.
I really don't like how they changed the site to reduce your ability to figure out who is looking at your profile. I guess not many people were paying so they had to make it harder to see stuff.
I don't think it is worth 25 bucks a month. That is pretty steep.
I don't think its worth it. $25/month? That's pretty weak. Also, I think 30 people a DAY is a lot. Did you just give a presentation at a local college full of seniors looking for jobs?
I think the type of people who are searching for you are the types of people who want your job, or maybe its just college buddies. Either way, people that will be able to open doors for you are more likely the people you're checking out than than the other way around.
good point
I don't think it shows people searching for you, it shows the number of times you show in search results. So, that could be if someone searches for graduates from your school, if someone searches for energy traders, if someone searches for financial employees in Houston, as well as if someone searches you by name.
Question - how do you know who viewed me in linkedin? Also, is there generally a way that people can know who searched them in facebook, google or other network websites?
Can you expense it as a recruiting tool?
I made the mistake of paying $25/month for it. They still don't show you who looked at your profile- they just give you a few more details while respecting folks anonymity settings.
Most folks' settings are Rank/ Title & Firm.
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