LinkedIn has become an invaluable platform for recruiters and HR professionals to source candidates, post jobs, communicate with potential hires, and showcase employer brands. As the adoption of LinkedIn grows for talent acquisition, LinkedIn has launched a LinkedIn Recruiter Certification to teach best practices for leveraging LinkedIn Recruiter and the larger platform.
So if you are a recruiter or talent acquisition specialist wondering if you should become a certified LinkedIn recruiter, this is the article for you covering everything A to Z in detail. Let’s get started!
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What Exactly is the LinkedIn Recruiter Certification?
The LinkedIn Certified Recruiter credential is an official certification launched by LinkedIn in 2021 to validate a recruiter’s expertise in leveraging LinkedIn’s various talent solutions for sourcing, communicating with candidates, promoting employer brands, and making quality hires.
It aims to set the global standard for talent acquisition professionals in understanding how to strategically tap into LinkedIn’s 830+ million members to find and attract the right candidates.
The certification provides proof to employers that you have the specific LinkedIn knowledge and skills to drive recruitment results and ROI by fully utilizing LinkedIn Recruiter, Jobs, and other relevant tools.
Also read: How to Contact a Recruiter on LinkedIn: The Complete Guide
Here is a quick background on LinkedIn’s recruiter certification:
- Launched in: March 2021
- Exam Length: 90 minutes
- Number of Questions: 50-60
- Format: Multiple choice and multiple response
- Passing Score: 70%
- Prices: Ranges from $99-$219 (see pricing section for details)
While LinkedIn Learning offers various talent acquisition learning paths and courses, the LinkedIn Certified Recruiter exam specially tests your operational skills and knowledge for recruiting with LinkedIn products across 4 main domains we will cover next…
What Does the LinkedIn Recruiter Certification Cover?
The LinkedIn Certified Recruiter exam evaluates your proficiency across four knowledge domains centered around getting maximum leverage from LinkedIn’s various hiring solutions:
1. Sourcing Candidates with LinkedIn Recruiter
Utilizing LinkedIn Recruiter’s advanced targeting, saved searches, and InMail messaging to identify and connect with qualified candidates on LinkedIn.
Examples:
- Boolean search techniques
- Profile targeting by skills, experience, demographics etc
- InMail best practices
2. Posting Jobs and Attracting Candidates
Leveraging LinkedIn Jobs to create compelling listings that attract inbound candidates to open roles.
Examples:
- Job post optimization
- Company Page branding
- Talent Brand Index
3. Communicating Professionally via InMail and Messaging
Engaging qualified candidates through effective communication on LinkedIn’s messaging platforms.
Examples:
- InMail response tracking
- Interview scheduling via messenger
- Nurturing candidate relationships
4. Making Quality Hires
Converting qualified LinkedIn members into successful hires through assessment, screening and pipeline management.
Examples:
- Skills assessments
- Candidate pipeline organization
- Hire reporting
Within each domain, the exam covers BOTH operational knowledge of LinkedIn Recruiter & Jobs along with best practices for leveraging the hiring tools and wider platform effectively.
So it evaluates both your technical skills in using LinkedIn’s recruiting products AND your conceptual understanding of proven recruitment strategies tailored to LinkedIn’s ecosystem.
Also read: How to Message a Recruiter on LinkedIn
Is the LinkedIn Recruiter Certification Worth It?
As LinkedIn continues to be the #1 channel used by talent acquisition teams, getting formally certified in LinkedIn recruiting can quickly pay dividends in several ways:
1. Validate Your Expertise to Employers
The LinkedIn Certified Recruiter badge displays your credibility and value on one of today’s most critical hiring platforms.
Given LinkedIn’s dominance in recruitment, more employers are explicitly seeking out certified talent acquisition specialists with a documented mastery of recruiting through LinkedIn.
Especially with talent getting more selective amid labor shortages, hiring managers need reassurance they have specialized LinkedIn competencies to attract and engage high-quality candidates.
2. Level Up Your LinkedIn Recruiting Skills
While daily working experience using LinkedIn Recruiter provides valuable hands-on learning, taking a structured certification journey focuses your development on best practices you may overlook.
Optimize Boolean search techniques, creative InMail outreach templates, candidate pipeline organization systems and more covered by the exam syllabus reflect proven, results-driven recruitment strategies tailored to LinkedIn.
So passing the certification forces critical self-examination of your current LinkedIn recruiting tactics – and skill gaps you should work on to achieve hiring goals.
3. Higher Salaries and Career Advancement
Multiple studies reveal how specialized IT certifications increase salaries by 15% or more.
Similar pay and career growth potential exist with emerging domain certifications like LinkedIn recruiting.
Documenting your expertise can position you for higher recruiter salaries or promotion to recruitment management roles like Head of Talent Acquisition.
Especially amid today’s competitive hiring landscape, developing niche certification credentials like this differentiates your contributions and value.
So in summary, while the LinkedIn Recruiter Certification requires effort to attain, it quickly communicates specialized expertise that employers and candidates seek out.
Differentiating your brand and skills pays dividends across salary, promotions, performance, and long-term career growth.
Also read: LinkedIn Recruiter Pricing 2023: Costs, Features, and Alternatives
Who is the Target Audience for the Certification?
The LinkedIn Recruiter Certification is primarily targeted towards two talent acquisition audiences:
Corporate Recruiters
Both agency and internal recruiters focused on leveraging LinkedIn Recruiter & Jobs to source and hire candidates.
Talent Acquisition Leaders
HR professionals who manage sourcing strategies, recruiter hiring, and retention programs.
However, other practitioners who use LinkedIn for talent purposes may also find value in getting certified, including:
- Diversity and inclusion recruiting specialists
- Freelance/Contingent workforce recruiters
- Staffing agency recruiters
- Recruitment marketing professionals
Overall though, the certification is optimized for corporate talent acquisition roles across staffing agencies, HR departments, and recruiting firms of all sizes who mainly work with permanent job requisitions.
How Much Does the LinkedIn Recruiter Certification Cost?
LinkedIn offers several options to get certified with different exam prep tools and prices:
LinkedIn Learning Package
$219 total includes:
- LinkedIn Learning Prepare for the LinkedIn Certified Recruiter Exam course
- One certification exam attempt
Exam Only Bundle:
$99 total for one certification exam attempt without any LinkedIn Learning courses
So at minimum, you can attempt certification just buying exam-only access for $99.
However, LinkedIn strongly recommends supplementing with their official prep course called “Prepare for the LinkedIn Certified Recruiter Exam” on LinkedIn Learning for best chances of passing.
Then if unsuccessful, you can purchase another exam attempt for $99 without re-buying the Learning course.
Or access the full Learning + Exam bundle directly for $219.
So while not cheap, a reasonable investment if you use LinkedIn recruiting heavily or want to validate expertise. Plus earns back its value quickly from salary and career growth perks certification brings.
Compared to thousands spent on college degrees with less clear ROI, ~$200 represents an affordable opportunity for recruiters given LinkedIn’s business impact.
Additionally, some companies offer prep course reimbursement or discounted exam vouchers if bought in volume. Large firms including Randstad, Adecco and Kelly Services have run certification initiatives where employees access reduced rate codes.
Contact your Talent Acquisition leader to ask if corporate discounts exist to lower costs.
Group purchase rates also sometimes get offered at LinkedIn Talent and Recruitment conferences or during webinars.
Finally, LinkedIn provides exam price reductions to nonprofits/government agencies along with academic institutions.
So maximize these avenues first before paying full sticker price.
Next let’s explore what prep tools LinkedIn provides to pass the exam…
LinkedIn Recruiter Certification Prep Resources
To set you up for success in passing the certification, LinkedIn offers an array of training resources:
1. LinkedIn Learning Certification Prep Course
LinkedIn’s official exam prep course provides 8 hours of lessons taught by Joanna Riley, a veteran talent acquisition leader.
Screenshot of LinkedIn’s Official Certification Prep Course
With a 4-star average rating to date, it provides a robust understanding of the material through an interactive learning experience.
The course grants 3 months of access so you can reinforce knowledge leading up to your exam date.
Many learners praise it as the highest quality exam preparation reflecting real test content and format.
2. LinkedIn Help Center Articles
LinkedIn’s extensive Help Center offers 300+ articles and short videos explaining all product features across Recruiter, Jobs and other solutions.
While not exam-specific, they provide valuable usage instructions and tips if rusty on certain tools. References like:
- LinkedIn Recruiter Overview
- Posting Jobs on LinkedIn
- Engaging Candidates via InMail
Bookmark go-to Help Center pages or even print key ones as handy study references.
3. LinkedIn Recruiter Certification Exam Prep Facebook Group
With 5,500+ members, this active Facebook Group provides community support through your exam journey.
Talent leaders share success stories, study materials, practice questions, and motivation to help certification candidates. Highly recommend joining for supplemental tips.
4. Free Recruiter Learning Paths
While not tailored to the certification, LinkedIn’s Talent Scout learning path has relevant modules for sourcing basics and candidate engagement.
Similarly, their Diversity Recruiting path covers relevant outreach and hiring assessment fundamentals worth reviewing.
Also read: LinkedIn Profile Checklist: The Complete Guide to Creating an Amazing Profile (2024)
When are LinkedIn Recruiter Certification Exams Offered?
Once enrolled, users can schedule certification exam appointments online through LinkedIn’s exam delivery partner Pearson VUE.
You pick a location, date, and time convenient for you from hundreds of global test centers or virtually proctored options.
Most people schedule the exam weeks after enrolling to allow sufficient study time. But you have 12 months after buying an exam to attempt to take it before it expires.
LinkedIn adds appointments daily but recommends scheduling at least 3 days in advance at your preferred test center to guarantee availability.
Check Pearson VUE’s real-time exam availability here before registering.
Weekend and early morning appointments fill the quickest given work schedules. So book logistics 1-2 weeks out once confident to take the test, but don’t delay reserving a seat.
With the exam only offered in English currently, non-native speakers may prefer in-person testing allowing the use of physical dictionaries.
Additionally, while normally delivered on-demand, special certification exam dates get offered at some LinkedIn conferences and recruiting events.
For example, attendees at past Talent Connect or Onward conferences could take the test onsite saving separate travel. So another option depends on your location and timing relative to relevant events.
Overall the continuous, on-demand testing model through Pearson VUE provides maximum flexibility to earn certification on your own timeline.
What Score Do You Need to Pass the LinkedIn Recruiter Exam?
The passing threshold holds at 70% meaning you need to correctly answer 35-42 of the 50-60 scored test questions depending on the version administered.
The exam includes 5-10 extra “pre-test” questions that don’t impact scoring for LinkedIn to evaluate their usage for future exams.
You have 90 minutes total to complete all questions, so smart time management is necessary without getting stuck on harder ones.
Results get shown immediately on-screen after finishing and emailed to you containing:
- Overall Pass/Fail status
- Percentage score
- Subscores across each exam domain to highlight strengths/weaknesses
- Access to your official e-certificate if passing
Remember you need 70% or better overall to pass – there is no specific domain subscore threshold.
Top students typically score 80-90% showcasing full command of material. But ultimately focus on crossing the 70% finish line rather than aiming for perfection, especially your first attempt.
Then you can always retake to improve subscores in weaker domains next round.
Also read: How to Connect LinkedIn Learning to LinkedIn: A Step-by-Step Guide for the Learning Challenged
How Long Is LinkedIn Certification Valid For?
Once attained, your LinkedIn Certified Recruiter status stays valid for 2 years initially.
To maintain credentials after 2 years, you must recertify via one of two options before expiration:
- Retake Exam
Schedules and re-passes the latest exam version (at cost) - Submit Continuing Education Credits
Claims eligible learning credits reflecting ongoing education
Continuing ed allows an alternative “self-paced” path to renew versus retesting if preferred.
Activities like attending certain LinkedIn or recruiting conferences, and completing related LinkedIn Learning courses or microcredentials count towards substitute credits.
Check LinkedIn’s certification site for the latest list of qualifying continuing education offerings as options expand over time.
Then before your renewal date, log CE hours through the CERTMANAGER mobile app or portal. Minimum totals required to get communicated through reminders from LinkedIn.
As credentials stay valid a full two years initially, you have ample opportunity to painlessly maintain certification through continuing education or short re-assessment.
LinkedIn Recruiter Certification Cheat Sheet
To summarize key details in one place, use this quick LinkedIn recruiter certification cheat sheet:
| Official Name | LinkedIn Certified Recruiter |
| Issued By | LinkedIn in partnership with Pearson VUE |
| Exam Length | 90 Minutes |
| Number of Questions | 50-60 |
| Question Format | Multiple-choice, multiple-response |
| Passing Score | 70% Correct |
| Price | $99-$219 depending on prep bundle selected |
Here are some additional frequently asked questions about the LinkedIn Recruiter Certification:
