Why LinkedIn’s Premium “Top Applicant” Feature Is Not Enough For You To Find A Job

Rene Cheng
4 min readJan 9, 2021

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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Like many recent graduates or anyone looking for a career change, the first thing they would do is browse on LinkedIn to find all open vacant positions from various companies. If you are an avid LinkedIn user and have an extra $30 or more to pay for a Premium subscription, you would know about the “Top Applicant” feature. The feature tells you where you stand as an applicant by showing which percentile you are depending on many other applications. However, today, we will discover how and why LinkedIn’s “Top Applicant” Feature does not have enough and accurate insights for you to land a job.

To clarify, LinkedIn’s “Top Applicant Feature” is calculated based on the applicant’s skills and experiences to the requested job description. It may show you by saying, “Top 25% of 400 applicants” essentially, LinkedIn compares your resumes with others to determine where you stand in a vast talent pool. As job seekers, we would apply as it tells us we have a “higher” chance. But wait, did you get a callback from a recruiter?

Image by Katie White from Pixabay

A survey conducted by JobSeer, a start-up software company for job seekers, showed that at least 45% of people are looking for entry-level jobs. And who are these people? Recent graduates, people who have been working for around 0–5 years, and others. If we are looking at the previous scenario of “Top 25% of 400 Applicants”, where exactly do applicants stand in that situation? Who are the other people we are competing with? This already tells us that LinkedIn’s “Top Applicant Feature” does not cover enough information to know precisely where we stand in such a vast talent pool.

So, the question to ask is, if you are not getting a call-back for an interview when you are in the Top 25% of the applicant pool, where are you going to find jobs that suit you? Based on the research, many job seekers mention they turn towards other job boards like, Indeed, Glassdoor, ZipRecruiter for more positions, but they simply apply and wait for a call. Some folks also consider creating a boolean string on Google or job boards to help them narrow down their job search to find more relevant job titles. Which is great, but again, where do you compare with other candidates?

JobSeer might be a solution to solve most job seeker’s problems with its AI-powered engine to help job seekers find their jobs simpler and faster. 85% of the job seekers have never used a chrome extension to find a job. Therefore, this is the reason why JobSeer is such an innovative product. Simply upload your resume, enter your desired job titles, skills, and preferences. JobSeer will then do its work to generate the top jobs that suit the candidates. While smart searching for jobs might be a great way, but let’s get back to our main topic — how do I know exactly where I stand compared to other tons and thousands of applicants? This is where JobSeer shines with its Match Score Feature, where you can see how qualified you are with the job position. The score is calculated by scanning your resume with the job description. Sounds cool? There’s more; you can also see where you lack skills to help you understand your qualifications in more detail.

Many job seekers have one BIG and burning question, “Was my application ever been viewed?” We never know; as recruiters have received tons of applications each day, it is hard for them to catch up. Luckily, JobSeer also provides recruiters’ and employees’ information for possible connections and referrals, so applicants can reach out to them if they have any questions about the position.

Now, I am not saying that LinkedIn’s “Top Applicant” Feature is not useful. It is pretty good in giving us insights about ourselves as professionals. JobSeer can be a great addition to your job search process as it can serve as an assistant. We all know job searching is a life long “job,” and there are times where we feel stuck and don’t know what to do in terms of our career. Let’s give JobSeer a try to find out where you stand in a vast talent pool while finding your highest potential in the market.

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Rene Cheng

Ambivert. Loves Coffee and Solo Adventures. Happy to chat!