Review of LinkedIn Learning: Relevant Information From Real-World Experts

Looking to brush up on your hard and soft skills? If so, then you should take a look at LinkedIn Learning.

LinkedIn Learning offers a veritable Alexandrian Library of courses for folks in all lines of work.

And the best part is: you get to learn from real-world experts at an affordable price.

“Is LinkedIn Learning is worth it?”

Let’s find out. 

Where It Came From

In this part of the LinkedIn Learning review, I’ll cover the origins of the e-learning platform.

It started off as Lynda.com. But in 2015, LinkedIn acquired Lynda.com and became LinkedIn Learning.

Why is that significant in this review of LinkedIn Learning? Because back in the day Lynda.com was considered the go-to destination for professionals who wanted to learn.

About anything.

Fast-forward to today, and you can still find some of those great courses of yesteryear on LinkedIn Learning. But since then, much of the coursework has been updated.

Whether you want to learn about management, software development, communication, or any other business skill, you can probably find a course on LinkedIn Learning.

A Premium Membership

In this part of the LinkedIn Learning review, I’ll explain what it takes to gain access to the large selection of e-courses on the platform.

First things first: you need a LinkedIn Premium account.

You have the option to pay monthly at $29.99 a month. The other option gives you the chance to save 33% by purchasing an annual subscription at only $19.99 a month ($239.88 annually). 

Just keep in mind that you get other perks with LinkedIn Premium, such as more insights into who’s viewing your account or info on potential hires if you’re the hiring manager with your company.

There are different types of Premium accounts as well:

• Premium Career – for job-seekers and applicants @ $29.99 per month
• Premium Business – for managers who want to know about how people view their company on LinkedIn @ $59.99 per month

There are also paid subscriptions for people in sales and hiring managers.

But You Get It All

In this part of the LinkedIn Learning review, I’ll explain what you get with the service.

It’s this simple: once you’ve paid your Premium fee, you get access to the entire course catalog.

Yep. You don’t have to pay extra for “premium” courses. As far as I know, there aren’t any hidden fees.

However, you can’t buy access to a single course if you’re not a Premium member.

In other words: this stuff is for Premium members only. No exceptions.

However, you can buy LinkedIn Premium for your team.

Competitors

In this part of the LinkedIn Learning review, I’ll go over some of its competitors.

Skillshare is probably the platform’s primary competitor. That one only costs $19 per month and you get access to everything.

You also get access to some courses for free. But, since there’s no such thing as a free lunch, you’ll have to put up with ads.

However, that service seems to focus a little more on the arts.

MasterClass offers both all-access ($180 per year) as well as individual courses ($90 each). As you can tell from that last sentence, it makes quite a bit of economic sense to go with the all-access option.

Just keep in mind that you’ll also get some philosophical guidance with MasterClass.

Another competitor, Teachable, also offers individual courses. The cost depends on how much the teacher wants to charge.

Khan Academy offers courses 100% free. It’s a non-profit that accepts donations (still no free lunch).

How to Use It

In this part of the LinkedIn Learning review, I’ll explain how to use the service.

Just log in to LinkedIn with your Premium account and click on Learning in the upper, right-hand corner.

When you do that for the first time, you’ll need to answer a few questions about the types of courses you’re interested in.

Yes, that’s so LinkedIn Learning can recommend relevant courses to you in the future and keep you a happy camper.

You can also browse categories. The three top-level categories are Business, Creative, and Technology.

And each one of those categories includes three sub-categories: Subjects, Software, and Learning Paths.

You’ll find category-specific themes below each of the sub-categories.

For example, in the Business category, you’ll find the following items under Subjects:

• Business Analysis and Strategy
• Business Software and Tools
• Career Development
• Customer Service
• Finance and Accounting
• Human Resources
• Marketing
• Sales
• Training and Education

And more.

Class Style

In this part of the LinkedIn courses review, I’ll explain what it’s like inside the virtual classrooms.

The classes are full of professionally narrated video presentations.

The narrators are reading from a script and some of the class might use text-to-voice solutions.

Some courses include Powerpoint presentations as a visual aid.

 The courses offer outstanding content that will take you to the next level in your professional growth.

LinkedIn Learning provides expert instructors so you know you’ll be learning from the best of the best.

These industry experts are leaders who are passionate about the subject they are teaching, helping others improve their skills, and are ready to share their real-world experiences and tactics they swear by. 

Wrapping It Up

So if you’re still asking: “Is LinkedIn Learning worth it?”, that’s a question you’ll have to answer.

Think about the additional benefits you get with a LinkedIn Premium account. Then, consider that you get free access to countless courses on top of all that.

I think you’ll find it’s probably worth it.