I recently tried a free month of LinkedIn Premium, a $30 a month service LinkedIn says is designed to aid you in your job hunting. My thought after my free trial? I’d use the $30 for something else. The benefits offered, I found, are minimal.

What sounded like the most important benefit to me, that job applications filed through the premium service go to the top of the digital pile with potential employers, proved to be more illusion that fact.

You go to the top if an ad on LinkedIn allows you to apply for the job through LinkedIn. But most I thought sounded interesting required applying through their own sites, where there was no preference to Premium members.

Another promised benefit, being able to see who was viewing your profile so you could contact people directly about jobs, also was an illusion. I discovered people can still mask their identities when looking at your profile.

I find LinkedIn a great networking tool but this service didn’t live up to my expectations and I can’t recommend it.
John N. Frank