Does LinkedIn Learning Give Certificates? 7 Essential Certification Questions Answered -

If you’ve been looking for ways to be more productive during your free time, then you might be interested in online learning platforms where you can take courses to pick up new knowledge or skills. LinkedIn Learning is one such platform.

Rather than being geared towards academic credits such as platforms like Coursera, LinkedIn Learning focuses on teaching you skills that will help you with your professional career. It has a library of over 16,000 courses across 7 different languages, and the database is constantly being updated.

Were you looking to brush up on your MS Excel skills because you’re eyeing a job that listed it as a plus? Well, LinkedIn Learning can help you with that!

While it’s good to learn the skills, will you actually be able to prove it when you learned it all online?

In this article, we’ll tell you all you need to know about LinkedIn Learning certificates.

So, Does LinkedIn Learning Give Certificates?

Yes, it does! LinkedIn Learning will automatically generate a Certificate of Completion when you finish a course. When you get your certificate, you’ll also be able to display it as a banner on your LinkedIn profile or download it as a PDF.

Table Of Contents

So, Does LinkedIn Learning Give Certificates?

Are LinkedIn Certifications Credible?
Do LinkedIn Certifications Matter?
Are LinkedIn Learning Certificates Worth It?

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If you were ever the type of kid to enjoy showing off the button pin collection on your backpack, then here’s the grown-up version for you to play with.

How Do I Get a LinkedIn Learning Certificate?

Well, the most important criteria is, of course, completing the course. LinkedIn Learning can track whether or not a course video has been played and will only consider the course finalized when all of the videos associated with it have been played.

While some courses come with assessments and exercises to help you check how well you’re learning the information, you don’t need to complete them to get your certificate.

This does mean you could just leave the webpage open and let the videos keep playing while you go watch a basketball game on TV, but you’d really only be playing yourself.

It’s important to remember that when using online learning platforms, you’re the one responsible for validating whether or not you’ve learned and understood your courses.

Will All Courses Give Me a Certificate?

Not all courses will offer you a Certificate of Completion, but most will. You won’t get a certificate from:

Series courses that get frequent updates (can’t say you’ve completed the course when the course keeps getting new content!)
Individual videos (you need to finish the entire course)

If you read through the overview of a course, it will clearly mention if it’s a series course that won’t grant you a certificate, so make sure to check beforehand!

Is Getting a Certificate Free?

Absolutely. All you need is an active individual or organizational subscription, and you’re free to generate all the certificates that you’d like. LinkedIn Premium subscribers and LinkedIn members using unlocked Microsoft Certifications can also freely get certificates. Still, if you’re accessing the platform through a library card, then, unfortunately, you won’t be able to.

Are LinkedIn Certifications Credible?

If you mean credible in the sense that they’re taught by professionals, then yes, definitely! If you mean credible in the sense that they’re accredited? Sorry to disappoint, but no.

LinkedIn Learning certificates aren’t recognized or endorsed by any third parties, so, unfortunately, you won’t find much luck in using them for course credits or professional certification.

This might make you feel that it’s not very worthwhile — for example, if you wanted to prove that you were licensed in using a particular software, then all your LinkedIn certificate is going to prove is that you’ve done a course about it on LinkedIn. Not very helpful there.

However, it does offer courses that will help with prep for actual certification exams.

Do LinkedIn Certifications Matter?

Even if these certifications aren’t officially accredited, don’t brush them off just yet. They are still extremely useful if you’re looking for your next job on LinkedIn — showing them off on your profile will make you a more attractive prospect to any browsing recruiters.

At the end of the day, it’s learning a new skill that really matters, certificate or not. Even if the certificate itself holds less power outside of the site, it at least demonstrates that you’ve got the discipline and the mindset to improve yourself even while at home.

Are LinkedIn Learning Certificates Worth It?

So, here comes the big question: are LinkedIn Learning certificates worth it? If you want the short answer: yes. If you want the long answer: yes, definitely. If you want an even longer answer, then here’s the rundown of the pros and cons of using LinkedIn Learning at a glance.

Cons:

The certificate is unaccredited. If you really want something formally recognized, then this isn’t for you.
It’s hard to evaluate how well you’ve learned the course. Since no one’s grading you on these courses, you might overestimate how well you know something.
You need to sift through a huge library to find the course for you. You’ll have to do some quality control to find courses that cover the right topic and are taught in a style that you can understand instead of wasting your time taking on every course you see.

Most content is for beginner or intermediate level knowledge. Introductory courses are great for a jack-of-all-trades approach. Still, if you’re looking to deepen your understanding of something you already know, then you might be out of luck.

Pros:

Integration with LinkedIn makes it easy to add certificates to your resume. The best use of your certificate will be on the site, letting recruiters know what skills you’ve learned.
Learning is very flexible and easily digestible. The online format makes it easy to learn on your own schedule. With some of the individual videos being as short as five minutes, you can watch them whenever you have even a bit of free time.

The huge library makes it likely that you’ll find something new to learn. While sorting through the library does take time, topics that both interest you and benefit you will not be in short supply.
Cheaper than some other learning platforms. Starting with LinkedIn Learning is entirely free with their one-month trial! When you’ve gotten a feel for learning on the site and what certificates are useful to you, you can proceed with a subscription of $26.99/month.

The bottom line is, if you’ve got the free time, then you might as well use it wisely! Whether you’re trying to spruce up your resume or find a new hobby, then take the first step by signing up for LinkedIn Learning’s free trial today.