Looking for Expert Business, Career & Personal Finance Classes? Try LinkedIn Learning

Posted on June 30, 2021 at 6:00 am

BY STACEY GODDARD

If you haven’t explored LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com) in a while, it’s definitely time to give it some attention!

You may know this resource for its technology-focused classes because Lynda.com had a (deserved) reputation for those. While LinkedIn Learning definitely has technology courses covered, it offers so much more!

I’m going to focus on these non-technology subject areas today: business, professional development, and financial literacy.

BUSINESS LEARNING

It makes perfect sense that a product called LinkedIn Learning would offer a wide variety of courses on business because LinkedIn is all about professional networking.

When I say there are thousands of courses on business available, I’m not exaggerating. A simple keyword search for “business” returned over 68,000 results!

Fortunately, you can browse by topic, such as customer service or marketing, or you can get more specific with your keyword search to help narrow things down. It didn’t take me long to find several courses I wanted to take!

At the library, we often get questions about how to write a business plan, so I was very interested in The 45-Minute Business Plan. This course does a great job of clearly explaining what should be included in a business plan and why. The instructor provides examples for each section and goes over things to consider. While writing a business plan will take longer than 45 minutes, at the end of this course, you will have a good understanding of what work needs to be done.

Empathy in Business: Design for Success caught my eye because I hadn’t thought of empathy in a business context before. The instructor begins by saying “having empathy for others will improve all of your relationships, both in work and in life.” This hooked me in immediately. She details ways to think about empathy and how to practice being empathetic in your everyday life. Adopting an empathetic approach can help improve relationships with your employer, employees, and prospective customers.

There are dozens of other business classes I want to take next! The ones at the top of my “to watch” list are:

• What is Social Entrepreneurship?
• Leadership Strategies for Women
• Creating a Positive Customer Experience

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

LinkedIn Learning also offers a wide variety of courses on professional development. Topics run the gamut from being a better employee (Become a Successful Remote Worker) to courses that give you certifications or credentials (Six Sigma Foundations).

The first one I tried was Note-Taking for Business Professionals. This might seem basic or even boring, but I’ve always felt like I’m not writing the correct things down during meetings—or that I need to write everything down. This course shares useful strategies, such as focusing on ideas rather than complete sentences, and included downloadable exercises to practice your new skills. I feel confident that my note-taking will be more useful in the future!

I went a different direction for my next professional development course: How to Make Work More Meaningful. The presenter explores what he describes as the three elements of meaningful work: values, vision, and victory. These three elements will be different for each person, but the presenter clearly defines the process for determining them. He also includes downloadable exercises to help you determine which values are important to you and how they will shape your personal vision.

There are so many fantastic professional development courses available I’m having trouble deciding which one to take next! A few that I’ll be watching soon are:

• Improving Your Leadership Communications
• Time Management Fundamentals
• Overcoming Cognitive Bias

FINANCIAL LITERACY

I was excited to see LinkedIn Learning also offers courses on financial literacy (which you might remember is totally my jam!).

I dove right into Financial Basics Everyone Should Know. In just over an hour, this class walked me through concepts and terms relating to saving, investing, insurance, and retirement planning. I appreciated the straightforward language and conversational approach of the instructor, as it made the content much more digestible. Now I understand how banks set their rates and the difference between a 401(k) and a 403(b)!

Next, I watched the course Managing Your Personal Finances—and I wish the younger me could have accessed this information! The instructor divides her course into four sections: evaluate your earnings, controlling your spending, creating a savings plan, and becoming an investor. Important skills covered during this 65-minute course include creating a budget, managing debt, gauging investment risk, and even how to ask for a raise. Lots of great information!

There are plenty of other financial literacy courses available, and I have these queued up to watch next:

• Cryptocurrencies
• Financial Adulting
• Financial Wellness: Managing Personal Cash Flow

GETTING STARTED

If any of these courses sound interesting to you, or if you’d like to explore more of what LinkedIn Learning has to offer, it’s easy to get started!

You just need your in-district library card and PIN. You’ll be asked to choose the skills you’re interested in, to help with browsing courses. Then you can start saving courses to your “My Learning” list.

I hope you find great course topics and new, unexpected learning experiences with LinkedIn Learning!

Tags: adults, business, finances, financial literacy, LinkedIn Learning, lynda.com, online classes, online courses, professional development, teens, training