Is LinkedIn Learning worth it?

Question:

Is LinkedIn Learning worth it?

Answer:

There are certainly merits, but also limitations. For many people, the answer is probably not.

Explanation:

LinkedIn Learning offers 25,000+ courses from industry experts spanning pretty much every topic you could possibly imagine that is even remotely related to career success. There are several things to recommend it. First, unlike most course platforms where anyone can upload a course, the experts on LinkedIn Learning are vetted, providing an additional layer of assurance that you’re not just getting some random person’s opinion on how to handle conflict with your boss or learning coding from someone who just learned it yesterday themselves.

Second, it’s pretty cheap. As the time of writing, an annual subscription will run you $20 a month and a month-to-month subscription costs $40. If there are some very specific skills you’re looking to learn and have the time (and discipline!) to do so in a short time frame, you can get an immense amount of learning for a very low cost.

Third, it comes free with other memberships, like LinkedIn Premium or Sales Navigator, so if you’re already subscribed to one of those because of the other benefits those plans provide, then using LinkedIn Learning is a no-brainer.

Now for the shortcomings. First, if you stop paying for it, you lose access to the courses you’ve already taken, which means you won’t be able to go back and refresh your knowledge, so make sure you take copious notes. Second, despite the vetting, the courses can be pretty hit or miss when it comes to depth and quality, and they also don’t seem to do a good job of getting rid of outdated courses. If you’re looking to completely learn something new and complicated, then dedicated courses are almost always better than the standard LinkedIn Learning fare.

So, is it worth it? I’d say yes, if the skills you’re looking to learn are pretty basic (or you just want to get a basic understanding of them), and you’re committed to doing it in a defined period of time. It’s also absolutely worth checking out if you’re already paying for another plan. But getting LinkedIn Learning on its own and using it for continual improvement? I’d skip it and instead make a list of a few topics you want to improve your knowledge of and then seek out dedicated courses on those topics.