LinkedIn is often the first place a recruiter looks at a junior candidate. The free version already does a lot. Premium helps at one specific moment: when you are actively applying for internships, apprenticeships or a first job and want replies.
Fix these before paying for anything
- A headline that says what you are looking for. Not just "Student at King's College", but for example "Finance master's student, looking for a 6-month M&A internship from January".
- A short About section: your studies, two or three concrete achievements (a project, a job, a society), and what you are aiming for.
- Skills taken from the job ads you are interested in. Recruiters search with those words.
- The "Open to work" setting, visible to recruiters only if you do not want a badge on your photo.
- Your school's Alumni page: on the school's LinkedIn page, it lets you filter graduates by company and job. It is the best list of people to contact.
- Job alerts on precise searches, so you can apply in the first few days.
The Premium features that help a student
InMails, to write to alumni and recruiters
Career gives you 5 InMails a month: messages to people outside your connections. A short message to an alum who works at the company you want often gets a reply, and an InMail that gets a reply within 90 days is credited back to you.
Top Choice applications
Three times a month, you can mark an application as "Top Choice". The recruiter sees that this role is one of your first choices. Keep them for the jobs you want most, not for applications sent in bulk.
Seeing who viewed your profile
After applying, seeing that someone from the company looked at your profile is a good signal to follow up, at the right time and with the right person.
How you compare with other applicants
On many job posts, Premium shows how your profile compares with other applicants: skills that match the ad, level of education. It helps you decide where to apply and what to highlight.
LinkedIn Learning
The course library is included: Excel, SQL, Python, project management, public speaking. Certificates can be added to your profile. Check first whether your university already gives you access: many do.
What matters less
Business mainly adds more InMails and unlimited profile search. For an internship search that is rarely needed, unless you plan to contact a lot of people every week. Sales Navigator and Recruiter Lite are not made for job hunting.
Is there a LinkedIn student discount?
As far as we know, LinkedIn has no permanent student price in most countries. It often offers a free trial month, and there are sometimes temporary offers through partnerships, with universities or with Microsoft for example. They change often: your university's careers service is best placed to tell you what is available right now.
At Kareer, students and recent graduates get a dedicated 12-month price: €60 for Career and €80 for Business. Proof may be requested, such as a student card, a certificate of enrolment or a recent degree.
The right time to subscribe
Take Premium when you start applying for real, ideally one or two months before your target start date. With a 12-month subscription, the same year covers the internship or apprenticeship search and then the first job search.