How LinkedIn Premium’s AI features promise more than they deliver

LinkedIn‘s new AI-powered job search features aim to modernize how users find employment opportunities, but their effectiveness varies significantly across different functions. The upgrade introduces a more conversational search experience, job qualification metrics, and AI interview coaching, all requiring a Premium subscription at $29.99 monthly. These AI enhancements represent LinkedIn’s attempt to maintain relevance in the increasingly AI-driven professional networking space, though questions remain about whether they deliver enough value to justify the premium price tag.

The big picture: LinkedIn has launched a suite of AI-powered tools exclusively for Premium subscribers that promise to transform the job search experience through natural language processing and personalized feedback.

• The new features include a conversational search function, an AI-powered job qualification rating system, and mock interview coaching capabilities.
• At $29.99 monthly, these tools come with a significant price tag that may not justify the upgrade for all users.

How the new search works: The revamped search function now understands conversational queries instead of requiring exact keyword matches, allowing for more nuanced job discovery.

• Users can enter detailed requests like “A job where I can work remotely in the UK while writing about AI at a senior level” rather than relying on rigid job title searches.
• The system can process vague queries about personal preferences and qualifications, returning relevant positions that might otherwise be missed through traditional keyword searching.

Mixed results: Testing reveals inconsistent performance across the new AI-powered qualification matching system.

• The author received a “high match” rating for a Human Rights manager position at Lego despite being completely unqualified, while paradoxically receiving a “low match” for a position similar to one they had successfully held for years.
• Geographic specificity appears to impact search quality, with searches for animal-related jobs in London returning relevant positions while the same search in Southwest England produced completely unrelated results.

Value proposition: The AI features alone don’t provide sufficient value to justify the Premium subscription cost, though they complement LinkedIn’s existing premium offerings.

• The natural language job search shows promise but remains in beta with noticeable performance gaps.
• These AI enhancements should be viewed as supplementary benefits rather than primary reasons to purchase LinkedIn Premium.