Hey everyone! I'm curious if anyone has experience using LinkedIn APIs to pull user information like work history, education, skills, and projects—basically, all the stuff you usually find on a resume. I checked out the developer portal, but it seems like this info isn't easily accessible. I've read that you might need to be approved as a partner to get access to this data, but I'm unsure if that's true. Has anyone navigated this before?
4 Answers
There are mainly two ways to get LinkedIn data: scraping public profiles or getting a partner account. Both come with their own limitations. LinkedIn tends to be cautious about people using automated tools for things like spamming or unsolicited outreach, which honestly makes sense.
Totally! But this isn't really about spamming. There should be APIs for users who authenticate themselves to fetch their own data, right? Why else would they allow any APIs at all?
You'll need to go through their Developer Portal and maybe even deal with Microsoft directly, which can be quite the hassle. Sometimes even after approval, the data you receive might not be reliable because they change API versions without much notice.
If you're looking for API access, you'll likely need a Sales Navigator Advanced Pro account, which costs around $1600 a month. That's quite steep!
Yikes, that’s a bit rich for my blood!
I know, right? It's kind of a joke compared to other options.
Getting that kind of data typically involves a lot of red tape. Even companies as big as Amazon don't have accessible APIs for all their product info. LinkedIn doesn't really gain anything by sharing user profile data freely. Unlike platforms that benefit from helping users manage content (like YouTube), LinkedIn keeps things tightly locked down because that’s how they monetize their data.
Appreciate the insight! It makes a lot of sense.
I don't see the issue, honestly. Sometimes you just have to roll with the punches.