How to Use LinkedIn Learning for Professional Development

Employee and professional training can be time consuming and expensive for organizations, especially small businesses. Having the courses available on video so they can be viewed over and over without additional cost is invaluable. And that is what LinkedIn Learning for professional development offers, unlimited access to a vast library of courses.

More than 10,000 video courses are now part of the LinkedIn Learning platform courtesy of Lynda.com, which was purchased by LinkedIn for $1.5 billion almost two years ago.

What is Lynda.com?

In order to better understand the service LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD) is providing, it is important to know what Lynda.com is. As a video training/educational platform, Lynda.com is one of the top companies in the segment, with more than 20 years of experience and tutors that are experts in their respective fields. The company’s subscription model allows users to access its library anytime and anywhere on your computer, tablet or smartphone.

The subject matter covers the gamut, but some of them include programming, design, marketing, writing, management, business intelligence and much, much more.

For LinkedIn, this was a strategic purchase that has paid dividends right away as the company was struggling to increase its user base. The combination of the professional services it provides along with Lynda.com’s courses is a win/win, with the likes of Box, NBCUniversal, Viacom, Georgetown University and many others using the service.

So what’s the difference between LinkedIn Learning and Lynda.com?

First of all, the courses you get on Lynda.com are available on LinkedIn Learning. As far as content goes, they are one in the same. The difference is the way LinkedIn integrates its platform to personalize lessons based on the data the company has on your profile. This can include the company you work for, the industry you are in, your professional network, skills you might need and more. And once you learn these skills, you can add them to your profile to make yourself a more desirable target for companies looking for new talent.

LinkedIn Learning has personalized eLearning with unique insights that deliver relevant course recommendations. Using data from the LinkedIn network, users can identify courses that are relevant for developing new skills. For stakeholders looking to measure their investment in the platform, administrative tools include analytics about learner adoption, participation, and more with downloadable reports for evaluating different metrics.

LinkedIn has basically taken the same approach to the subscription model as Lynda.com. The only difference is you get many of the professional services that are part of the different tiers the company provides. But no matter which one you pay for, you will be able to access all of the courses in the Lynda.com library.

All the plans come with a no commitment free month, which you can cancel at any time. If you want to continue, the Career, Business, Sales and Hiring plans are available for $24.99, $47.99, $64.99, and $99.95 per month respectively when billed annually.

Again it is worth repeating, this gives you access to more than 10,000 expert-led, online courses and video tutorials you can access anytime you want.

Images: LinkedIn

This article, "How to Use LinkedIn Learning for Professional Development" was first published on Small Business Trends