After spending a couple of hours scouring over various authentication methods, creating a LinkedIn business page to verify my app registration, setting up a new Postman collection with a half dozen variables, hunting down the correct scope values to provide when requesting an auth code, and then actually obtaining a token, I've come to learn that LinkedIn is extremely frugal when it comes to offering user Profile data!

To fetch user Profile data (e.g., Skills or Education), an app owner first needs to apply (and be approved) to be a LinkedIn partner. From the Apply with LinkedIn Development page which mentions the Development Prerequirements for accessing Profile data:

So, what if I don't have a "LinkedIn partnership contact"?

Without it, aside from the social functionalities within the Share on LinkedIn Product (ex., posts, reactions, etc.), there are only a handful of endpoints available to a developer (and they're all kind of lame if you ask me...).

If, however, I was a LinkedIn partner I'd have access to all kinds of Profile fields!

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Just out of curiosity, I decided to track down the partnership program. From reading a few posts and forums, it seems there was a point in time where the program wasn't taking new requests, however, it appears to be open now.

So, anything shy of applying and being approved, I don't think I'll be getting access to Profile data.

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The current takeaway:

If you're wanting to create an app that uses LinkedIn member Profile data, unless you either create or already have a company and its business model is in line with LinkedIn's approval criteria, and you then actually go through the process of applying and waiting and luckily getting approved, you better think of something else to make!!