What Is the Linkedin Featured Applicant Feature

Understanding the LinkedIn Featured Applicant Feature

The job market on LinkedIn is crowded. Every time a desirable position opens at a well-known company, the applicant count often climbs into the hundreds within hours. Standing out in that sea of profiles is a challenge for even the most qualified candidates. LinkedIn created the Featured Applicant feature to help solve this visibility problem for its paying users. It acts as a spotlight for your application, potentially moving your name higher in the list a recruiter sees when they open their dashboard.

Look, the feature is fundamentally a ranking tool. It identifies whether your profile matches the job description better than other people who have submitted their resumes. When the system determines you are a strong match, it labels you as a top applicant. This label isn't just for your own ego. Recruiters using LinkedIn's hiring tools see these designations, which can influence who they choose to message first. It is a way to signal that you have the specific skills the company is looking for right now.

How the Top Applicant Designation Works

The mechanics of this feature rely heavily on data comparison. LinkedIn's algorithm looks at the skills listed in a job posting and compares them directly to the skills on your profile. It also considers your past job titles, your years of experience, and your education level. If your data points align closely with the requirements, you move up the ranking.

Here's the thing: you won't see this status on every job. LinkedIn requires a minimum of 10 applicants for a specific role before it starts generating these competitive insights. Once that threshold is met, the system calculates where you stand in relation to the rest of the pool. To earn the badge, you generally need to rank in the upper 50% of all applicants for that role. If you fall into the bottom half, the gold box won't appear on the listing for you.

Recruiters see a version of this data too. When they log into LinkedIn Recruiter, they can filter candidates by those who meet certain skill criteria. Being a featured applicant means you are already passing those automated filters. It saves the recruiter time, which is why the feature is marketed as a way to "boost" your visibility. You are essentially paying to have the algorithm vouch for your fit for the role.

Deep Dive: Featured Applicant and Competitive Insights

What the Feature Does

The Featured Applicant feature provides a visual confirmation of your standing in a candidate pool. On your end, it appears as a gold box or a text highlight on the job description page. It tells you exactly where you rank, such as "Top 10%" or "Top 25%" of applicants. This data helps you decide which jobs are worth spending time on and which ones might be a long shot.

Who Can Access It

This is not a standard feature for free accounts. You must have an active LinkedIn Premium subscription to see these insights or to be featured to recruiters in this specific way. This includes the following tiers:

• LinkedIn Premium Career (The most common tier for job seekers)
• LinkedIn Premium Business
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator
• LinkedIn Recruiter Lite

Practical Steps to Use It

Using the feature doesn't require clicking a specific button for every application. Instead, it works automatically once you have a Premium account. Follow these steps to see it in action:

• Navigate to the Jobs section in the main LinkedIn menu.
• Click on a job posting that interests you.
• Look for a section titled "How you match" or a gold box indicating your applicant rank.
• Review the skills listed under "Competitive intelligence" to see which keywords you are missing compared to other applicants.
• Update your profile skills to match the job requirements if you have that experience but haven't listed it yet.

Common Limits and Caveats

The feature is only as good as the data you provide. If your profile is out of date or missing key skills, the algorithm will rank you lower even if you are perfectly qualified for the job. Another limit is that it only compares you to other LinkedIn users who applied through the platform. If 500 people applied through the company's internal website and didn't use LinkedIn, the "Top 10%" stat you see might not reflect the actual competitive landscape. The feature also doesn't account for the quality of your resume or your actual performance in interviews. It is a data-matching tool, not a human endorsement.

The Relationship Between Skills and Visibility

Skills are the currency of the LinkedIn ecosystem. When a recruiter creates a job post, they select "must-have" skills. The Featured Applicant algorithm weighs these heavily. If the job requires "Python" and "Data Analysis," and those aren't in your skills section, you likely won't hit the top 50% mark. This is why profile optimization is a prerequisite for making the most of this Premium feature.

Honestly, many users ignore the skills section until they start a serious job hunt. That is a mistake. LinkedIn allows you to list up to 50 skills. To maximize your chances of being a featured applicant, you should use as many of those slots as possible with relevant, professional keywords. The algorithm doesn't just look at your work history text. It looks at the specific skill tags you have added and endorsed.

There is also a connection to LinkedIn Learning. Premium members get access to thousands of courses. When you complete a course and add the associated certificate to your profile, LinkedIn automatically adds those skills to your list. This can improve your ranking for jobs that require those specific technical proficiencies. It is a closed loop designed to keep you engaged with the platform's tools while improving your "score" in the eyes of the algorithm.

Access Requirements and Pricing

To get the Featured Applicant status, you have to pay for the privilege. LinkedIn typically sells its Premium Career subscription for a monthly fee, but the annual cost can be quite high. Retail pricing for a yearly subscription often sits around 720 dollars depending on your region and the specific tier you choose. This is a significant investment for someone who is currently between jobs.

There are other ways to get these features without paying full retail price directly to LinkedIn. Third-party providers like AccsUpgrade offer an alternative. You can get the same Premium features, including the Featured Applicant status and LinkedIn Learning, for around 40 dollars. This is a massive price gap. However, the tradeoff is that you are not buying directly from the source, which some users might find less convenient than a standard credit card transaction on LinkedIn's own site. If you are on a tight budget while job hunting, exploring these types of options is a practical move.

Feature	Free Account	LinkedIn Premium
Featured Applicant Badge	No	Yes
Competitive Insights	Basic	Detailed (Top % rankings)
Who's Viewed Your Profile	Last 5 people	Full list for 90 days
InMail Credits	0	5 to 50 per month
LinkedIn Learning	Limited	Unlimited access

Who Actually Benefits from Being a Featured Applicant?

Not everyone needs this feature to get a job. If you are in a niche field with very little competition, you will likely be seen by recruiters regardless of your Premium status. The real value appears in high-volume industries like tech, marketing, and finance. In these fields, recruiters often receive so many applications that they cannot look at every single one. They use filters to narrow the list down to the top 10% or 25% of matches. Being a featured applicant ensures you stay in that filtered view.

Now, consider the psychological aspect. When you see that you are in the "Top 10%" for a job you really want, it gives you the confidence to reach out to the hiring manager via InMail. Premium gives you those credits, so you can follow up on your "featured" status with a personal note. This combination of algorithmic visibility and direct outreach is the intended workflow for a Premium user. One provides the data, and the other provides the means to act on it.

Alternatives to the Featured Applicant Feature

If you don't want to pay for Premium, you can still achieve similar results through manual effort. The most effective alternative is direct networking. Instead of relying on an algorithm to move you to the top of a list, you can find a referral. A referral from a current employee will almost always carry more weight than a gold "Top Applicant" box on a screen. Most companies have internal systems that flag referred candidates immediately.

Another alternative is focusing on external job boards or niche industry sites. LinkedIn is the largest platform, but that also means it has the most competition. Smaller boards often have fewer applicants, which naturally increases your visibility without the need for a "featured" tag. You might also consider using automated resume keyword tools. These third-party sites compare your resume to a job description and tell you which keywords to add. This mimics the "Competitive Insights" part of LinkedIn Premium for free or for a much lower cost.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does being a Featured Applicant guarantee an interview?

No, it does not. The feature only improves your visibility and tells you how your profile compares to others. A recruiter still has to look at your actual resume and decide if your experience is a good fit. If your profile is full of keywords but your actual work history is thin, the recruiter will likely pass on your application despite the "Top Applicant" status.

Can recruiters see that I am a Premium member?

Recruiters can see the Premium badge on your profile if you choose to display it. More importantly, they see the results of the Featured Applicant algorithm. When they search for candidates or view applicants, those who match the job requirements best are highlighted. Your Premium status enables the data matching that puts you in that highlighted group.

What happens if I apply for a job with fewer than 10 applicants?

The "Top Applicant" insights will not be available for that specific job yet. LinkedIn needs a large enough sample size to create a meaningful ranking. You can still apply, and your profile will still be shown to the recruiter, but you won't see the gold box or the percentage ranking until more people submit their applications.

Is the ranking updated in real-time?

The ranking is dynamic. If you apply and are in the top 10%, but then 50 more people with better qualifications apply after you, your rank will drop. It is a live comparison of the current applicant pool. This is why it is often beneficial to apply to jobs as soon as they are posted, though your rank may fluctuate as the pool grows.