Is LinkedIn Premium Worth It for UK Job Seekers?
LinkedIn Premium is one of those products that is genuinely useful for some people and a waste of money for others. The honest answer to "is it worth it?" depends on what you are trying to accomplish and how actively you are using LinkedIn.
Here is a clear breakdown to help you decide.
What LinkedIn Premium Costs
LinkedIn Premium Career — the tier most relevant for job seekers — costs around £35–40 per month in the UK (pricing changes periodically). LinkedIn occasionally offers free trial periods of one month.
There are multiple Premium tiers. Career is the entry-level job-seeker option. Business, Sales Navigator, and Recruiter are higher-cost tiers aimed at different users.
What Premium Career Adds
Who viewed your profile — full list
Free accounts show only the last five profile viewers. Premium shows the full list. This is the most immediately useful feature for active job seekers — if a recruiter or hiring manager from a company you are targeting viewed your profile, you want to know.
InMail credits
Premium gives you five InMail credits per month, allowing you to message people you are not connected to. This is useful for reaching hiring managers or recruiters who do not accept open connection requests.
Applicant insights
On job postings, Premium shows you how you compare to other applicants in terms of listed skills and experience. It also shows how many people have already applied.
LinkedIn Learning access
Premium includes unlimited LinkedIn Learning courses. If you are actively upskilling, this has independent value.
Profile badge
A gold LinkedIn icon appears on your profile, indicating you are a Premium member. This has modest signalling value.
Open Profile
Premium members can be messaged by anyone without InMail credits, making inbound contact easier.
When Premium Is Worth It
You are actively job searching and need profile view data
If you are applying to roles and want to know which companies are looking at your profile — so you can follow up or prioritise — the full viewer list is genuinely useful.
You want to reach specific people without connection friction
InMail is the only way to message non-connections directly on LinkedIn. Five credits per month is not a lot, but for targeted outreach to specific hiring managers or recruiters, it can be decisive.
You are in a competitive sector where insights matter
Seeing that you are in the top 25% of applicants for a role you care about — or that a role already has 200 applicants — affects whether and how you prioritise it.
You are actively upskilling
LinkedIn Learning is a reasonable platform for professional development. If you would pay for online courses anyway, the cost may partially offset.
When Premium Is Probably Not Worth It
You are passively looking and not actively applying
If you update your profile and wait, Premium's active features add little.
You have a strong existing network
If you can reach the people you need through existing connections, InMail is less valuable.
You are early in your job search
Before you have optimised your profile and started actively applying, Premium's data is less actionable.
Your budget is tight
There is a meaningful cost to a month of LinkedIn Premium. If the money would be better spent on interview preparation, professional development, or other job search tools — spend it there instead.
Getting the Most from a Free Trial
LinkedIn offers free trials periodically. If you use one:
- Check the full list of profile viewers immediately
- Note which companies and roles are generating views
- Use all five InMail credits on high-priority contacts
- Check applicant insights on roles you are actively pursuing
Cancel before the trial ends if you decide not to continue. LinkedIn makes this straightforward from account settings.
The Honest Verdict
For active job seekers who are applying regularly and want data to inform their search, LinkedIn Premium Career is worth one to two months of investment. For passive candidates or those who are not yet actively applying, free LinkedIn is sufficient.
Use CVCircuit to ensure that the opportunities Premium helps you find lead to successful applications — with a CV that matches your LinkedIn profile and positions you effectively for every role you pursue.