From finding a job to connecting with others in your field, LinkedIn continues to offer the military community amazing resources unavailable elsewhere. Veterans and spouses can now benefit from free premium LinkedIn services for an entire year. This partnership between LinkedIn and the DoD aims to help veterans and military spouses build their professional networks.
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How Do I Sign Up for the LinkedIn Premium?
While this service is free, it does require a bit of legwork to set up. Instead of just flipping a switch and giving you free services, this program wants to see you succeed. By requiring what boils down to a LinkedIn resume-style course, you will refine your goals and ultimately become more successful. One of the coolest parts of the service is the free LinkedIn counselor one-on-one training.
Here is who can use these free services and how you can sign up:
Transitioning Active Duty Members & Military Veterans
LinkedIn offers U.S. service members and veterans a free 1-year Premium Career subscription, including one year of access to LinkedIn Learning. There are three programs, each designed to meet the needs of different servicemembers or veterans. They cover the following topics:
- Transition from Military to Civilian Employment
- Transition from Military to Student Life
- LinkedIn for Veterans
Visit the LinkedIn website to get started. You will need to verify your service with ID.me, a government-approved verification service.
Military Spouses:
Military spouses must start by visiting Military OneSource’s MySECO website to create an account and begin training. From there, you will have one year of free Premium services. This service expires after one year but will again be available with each Permanent Change of Station (PCS), job loss or career change.
Veterans should visit LinkedIn’s veteran subscription page and go through the ID.me service to verify eligibility. You must not currently have a Premium subscription in order to qualify. This service expires after one year.
Veterans Affairs Caregivers & Fry Scholars
If you are a recipient of the VA Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers, you can request one of these subscriptions by sending your full name, full name of the Veteran you are caring for and contact information to: [email protected]
If you are a Fry Scholar, you can request one of these subscriptions by sending your full name and contact information to: [email protected]
What’s Covered Under the LinkedIn Premium Program for Military?
LinkedIn understands military spouses and veterans experience unique challenges when seeking employment. Having access to LinkedIn’s library with content curated specifically for our specific community might mean the difference between job searching and landing your next dream role. LinkedIn’s Military and Veteran’s Program aims to connect the military community with veteran-friendly employers.
Resources include content on how to build a professional identity and manage your LinkedIn social network. Because it can be difficult for veterans to transition to civilian jobs, LinkedIn offers resources on how best to explore your strengths and evaluate potential new careers.
Clearly defined employment pathways help take some of the guesswork out of finding a job. It takes focus, dedication, and a specific plan. LinkedIn Premium can help military spouses and veterans craft the right approach.
Other benefits to the Premium membership include the ability to see your competition’s stats when you apply to jobs to see how you stack up. You can also see who is looking at your profile. The free service only tells you that someone was looking and some basic facts.
How to Make the Free Premium Year Work for You
LinkedIn is the one-stop resource for hiring managers and employers looking for their next great hire. It allows companies to vet prospective candidates before reaching out for an interview. To make the most of the free premium services, you should treat your LinkedIn profile as a professional resource. Hiring managers use your profile to get a feel for your endorsements and overall online presence, and it can provide a lens into how you’ll fit into an existing company culture. That means that it’s essential you send the right message.
Remember that what you post and how you engage with your audience is going to directly reflect in the opinion a potential employer creates of you. Stay active and engaged with all of your connections to ensure you’re sending the right message.
Your profile should reflect you as a professional. You need a clear professional profile photo – a simple headshot in clothing that’s associated with your industry. Most importantly, remember to smile and appear friendly! Potential employers want to see a warm expression, not something dour and stern.
Write a headline that’s short, succinct, and to the point. It should highlight your strengths as a potential employee. If you’re not sure how to craft the perfect headline, search “LinkedIn Learning” and find tips and tricks.
For military spouses and veterans, a headline can be challenging to write. Veterans often struggle to translate their military MOS into civilian-friendly language. Career experts suggest exploring what you did in your duty and writing a headline to reflect that skill set. Military spouses with varied professional backgrounds or career gaps can lean on myriad soft skills that are developed as a spouse to a service member to craft an engaging headline that attracts potential employers.
Stay Involved & Join LinkedIn Groups
Staying in touch with your connections from your military career means that you have one more way to grow your existing network. The best way to do this on LinkedIn is to explore and become active with groups. You can connect with like-minded professionals and network. This is especially ideal for military spouses and veterans since it helps widen your net. In becoming active on LinkedIn Groups, you gain access to industry networks that help put you ahead of the rest of the applicant pool.
The company’s ongoing commitment to military spouses and veterans can help take some of the stress from finding a job. Its military-centric content, customized library resources, and helpful tutorials and blogs can help you stand out from the rest of the applicant pool. With content created with our community in mind, LinkedIn Premium helps place you one step closer to your dream job.
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Susan T Trumpet says
THE Video instructions on how to subscribe to linkedin is incorrect. There is no sign here button when you go to the page instead the button says “log in with troop ID”. once you click it and are verified there’s no other step to get you to subscribe. It would be helpful if someone looked into this right away so many other veteran won’t be as disappointed and frustrated as I have been these few days trying to get this so called free subscription.
thank you
Junie Michael says
Hi Jessica,
I came across this article and I love reading it.
I wonder if the Free LinkedIn premium account applicable to Veterans spouse?
Hoping to hear from you.
Thank you.