Marta Goertzen

What can You Learn on LinkedIn?

February 24, 2017 By Marta Goertzen

LinkedIn has many learning and information tools just waiting for you to use them in your career or job search!

Today I was awarded a consulting gig about performance reviews. I am thrilled! I know a lot about performance management. It is practically my hobby. I LOVE the idea of holding people accountable to clear expectations. I get all tingly!!

But when creating a workshop or a presentation or a speaking gig, I need to dig deeper. I need to get perspectives that open my mind to new ideas that might help me put the ideas across to my audience in a clearer fashion that makes sense to my audience.

I need ideas.

LinkedIn is a never ending treasure trove of information!! I love it. There are so many ways you use LinkedIn to find the information that might make my presentation or workshop a total hit!! These are great places to find information (content) to share or comment on if you are trying to build your brand and get noticed.

So many contributors with so many ideas in one place! I can spend hours reading other people’s blogs with good ideas that I can incorporate into my presentation.
SlideShare. Is there already a PowerPoint out there that explains what I need to know or looks at my topic from a different direction?
LinkedIn Learning for training courses. Maybe someone has already developed a clever way to communicate the points I am trying to make.
LinkedIn Groups. Groups are still full of people with different ideas and unique approaches that I can talk to. Just ask a question and see what happens. Or search through questions already asked. Or find an expert who seems to be willing to share.
LinkedIn is chocked full of experts who are willing to talk about their experiences. Who do I know who will let me pick their brains?

This is the beauty of social media sharing. Whenever you want to know what other people think or need to get a different perspective, just check out LinkedIn. So many resources in one place!!

Don’t settle for a mediocre career that you don’t want! LinkedIn offers many ways to find the ideal job or career for you! Get your FREE copy of the LinkedIn Career Advancement Tips and find the perfect career today.

Share What You Know With LinkedIn

February 21, 2017 By Marta Goertzen

Are you hesitant or stumped on what to post on LinkedIn?

“Who wants to listen to little old me? What do I know that anyone else cares about?”

Doubts like that run rampant like mushrooms in the undergrowth. Doubts can be catchy. We can’t let that happen.

Everyone has a reason for being in their role. There is a reason the company pays you to do that job. You must know something or add some value. Perhaps you don’t realize you are sitting on a gold mine of information ripe for the sharing!

Social media is about sharing what you know with other people. Everyone has something to add, even you!

There are many reasons to share what you know. Sharing what you know establishes you as a “thought leader”, someone of substance who is worth listening to. Sharing comes back to you in abundance. Helping others for the sake of helping makes the world a better place. Sharing gives you an outlet for your thoughts and is a great way to learn. It is a way to participate in the virtual conversations swirling in the social media forest.

You don’t have to be a job seeker to share what you know. You just have to be a professional.

Sharing what you know is called “content” in social media world. Content comes from anywhere. From previous articles you’ve written or documentation of professional conversations. Someone asked me a question the other day. You can be sure that question will show up in something I write somewhere! It is just too good to keep to myself.

You can share your point of view about a topic in your field. Many people sharing their points of view is a great way to grapple with something controversial in your field. Eventually a new idea will emerge that will be the new solution. Maybe you have that idea in you right now?

Find interesting ideas to share in articles you read or listen to anywhere – newspapers, podcasts, tv shows, YouTube videos, Pinterest, Snap Chat, etc. Social media is filled with fascinating ideas just waiting to be shared to a wider audience.

When you share your own article on LinkedIn, the keywords included in the articles enhance your visibility and support your claim that you are good at what you do.

Here are some tips on how to get started sharing what you know:

Start reading online or in journals or in LinkedIn Groups or in LinkedIn Pulse – anything that strikes your fancy.
Share something interesting. Find something interesting and share it with your LinkedIn connections. That is a small start.
Make comments. When you get bolder you can share a comment. Start small with a compliment or a thank you. “Thanks for sharing, Jane” or “I completely agree, thanks for sharing”.
Ask a question in a Group then follow up on the responses with comments and thank-you’s.
Write an article. It doesn’t have to be big. It can be just a few words on a topic that is important to you in your profession or in your personal life. Post it in your update section on your LinkedIn profile.
Write a LinkedIn SlideShare. Is there anything interesting in your field that you can learn from? I bet you have information that can add to knowledge in the world. Prepare a simple SlideShare PPT to share with the world. Attach it to your profile so your thoughts enhance your reputation.

Be bold. Get out there and share what you know!

Don’t settle for a mediocre career that you don’t want! LinkedIn offers many ways to find the ideal job or career for you! Get your FREE copy of the “LinkedIn Career Advancement Tips” and find the perfect career today.

Process Oriented in a Seat-of-the-Pants World

February 17, 2017 By Marta Goertzen

Do you often feel out of sync with your co-workers or find conflict in the workplace?

This article is an excerpt from our BizTV video, which can be viewed online, simply click this link.

Are you a process oriented person in a seat-of-the-pants world? Here are some tips to bring some peace into your workplace.

Sam is a whirlwind. He has great ideas. He moves from idea to idea quickly, getting much of it done. He runs by the seat of his pants.

Cynthia, on the other hand, values the path. She has an orderly approach to getting things done. The process creates self-discovery and meaning. She gets a kick out of checking off boxes

Cynthia finds Sam’s whirlwind approach very annoying. Sam doesn’t really pay much attention to Cynthia’s point of view. Cynthia is a process oriented person in a seat of the pants world.

This can cause conflict.

Are you a process oriented person? Perhaps you understand how frustrated Cynthia feels.

I spend much of my time interpreting the seat of the pants world for my process oriented clients.

Here are some tips for process oriented people to find some peace in a seat of the pants world:

Start with knowledge. Be aware of your preferred style and the impact you have on others – this knowledge is critical
Don’t make assumptions about your colleagues. It is very possible that the conflict is not personal. It might not be about you at all.
Build relationships so you can understand the other guy’s real motivations. It is harder to dislike someone you know pretty well.
Ask questions to clarify intentions and expectations about projects and work assignments.
Pick up the pace. If you are surrounded by seat of the pants people you don’t want to fall behind. Find ways to reduce steps so you can keep up.

In my experience, most workplace conflict stems from misunderstandings about behavioral styles. You don’t have to turn yourself into something you are not. You just have to figure out how to solve a different kind of puzzle.

In the meantime, check out this great resource to learn more about solving conflicts in your workplace or to view other videos featuring other strategic job search tips and tools from The Interview Doctor click here.

The Shy Person’s Guide to Finding the Right Career Direction

February 14, 2017 By Marta Goertzen

Do you feel barricaded to finding the career path you want yet struggling with your shyness that is holding you back?

Dave graduated from college with the best intentions. He kind of knew how he wanted to use his marketing degree. He applied for jobs and got a few. Soon his career consisted of good educational credentials and a string of unrelated low level jobs ranging from customer service representative to marketing research associate. Today that string of jobs is not the career he had in mind.

Dave is a shy guy. I can tell Dave is a shy guy by the way he answers my questions. He kind of knows what he wants but is not sure how to get it. He is a little afraid to ask people. He doesn’t want to look silly or inconvenience other people.

He had trouble reaching out to me because he didn’t want to look silly or inconvenience me. The signs are all there.

Shyness is not terminal.

It is possible to overcome or at least put aside shyness if you want something bad enough.

Start with some research about yourself. What are your hobbies? What kind of work has made you happiest in the past? What kind of people have made you happiest and most comfortable in the past? What themes do you notice?

Do some research reading job ads to find the ideal job that makes your heart sing. We are not applying for jobs, just doing research. What do you know about that ideal job? You need to find out.

This is the hard part for shy people. To discover more information about your ideal job you must talk to people you don’t necessarily know… yet. Yikes!

Here are the Shy Person’s Action Tips to give you the courage to talk to people you don’t know yet:

Make a list of questions based on curiosity about your potential career direction. Write down the questions. Practice asking them out loud if you need to.
Create a written template for what you want to say in emails, on the phone or in person. You will feel more confident if you know what you want to ask people: Introduction, your questions (1 or 2), a potential follow up for more people to talk to and a thank you.
Find people who already do that job – ask your friends and your friends’ friends, use LinkedIn Advanced Search to find people. Make a list of names with phone number or email addresses. It might be easier for a shy person to send an email.
Set a schedule to talk to as many people as you think you can. You might only be reaching out to one person a day or a week but without a schedule you might never get to it.
Consider forming a support group or finding an accountability partner to give you the courage to do what needs to be done.
Use your template and schedule to reach out to people on your list to ask your questions.
Celebrate when you talk to someone on your list. This will give you confidence to do it again.
Evaluate what you learned about potential career directions. Does what you heard make sense, sound like fun, sound fulfilling? Maybe you just found your new career path!

These steps can be useful to anyone who wants to find a new career path. This is not rocket science but to a shy person, this process can be tough. But exploring your career direction with these simple steps you can get what you are looking for!

What steps will you take to find the right career direction?

If you are shy or introverted there is no shame in that but it may be blocking you from getting the career you want. There is help for you! Get your free copy of the “7 Tips for Career Success for the Shy Person” and begin to step out, beyond these barriers, onto a new career path today.

What is the plan, Sam? SMART Goals for 2017

February 7, 2017 By Marta Goertzen

Have you heard of SMART Goals before?

Ah, the new year. A clean slate. A wide, open vista just waiting to be explored.

OK, enough of that. What is the best way to make the most of this marvellous opportunity? You need a plan. I need a plan. We all need a plan.

Maybe you have some career dreams this year. It is one thing to say, “I want to get promoted”. It is another thing altogether to put that wish into action.

In business, we learn about SMART goals. Goals that are: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Based. Including all these elements into your goal make the planning simple. It also makes achieving goals easier.

Julie is an accountant who wants more challenge this year. She is not exactly sure how to do this. Last year she submitted a few resumes but nothing happened. Now she is more frustrated than ever and more determined to get more challenge and earnings in her life.

Let’s help Julia by converting her wish into a career goal, “Get a new job”. We start by converting the wish into a SMART goal for this new year. Here is how it could sound:

Specific: I want to find a new job with more challenge as an accountant. I also want to earn more money. It could be a different job in my current company or a new job in a different company. The title is either Accountant or Senior Accountant. I want be more involved in month end reporting, analysis and process improvement.

Measurable: I will measure my progress based on the number and success of interactions with other people about opportunities. I will network both in my own company for a promotion and outside the company through LinkedIn and local financial networking groups. I will add 10 new LinkedIn connections per week. I will attend one networking event each month. I will actively seek out at least one new project from my boss related to analysis or process improvement.

Achievable: I will seek advice from Joe, the Controller, on how to navigate promotions in my own company and be sure the Talent team knows of my interests. I will get feedback on my resume and LinkedIn profile to be sure I am presenting myself in the best light for what I want.

Realistic: A more challenging role will keep me interested and stimulated in my career and I will earn more money. I have the skills and ability to achieve this new role.

Time-Based: I will have a new position either inside my current company or in a new company in six months. I will evaluate my progress every month and adjust my process to make this goal happen.

See the difference between saying, “I want a new job” and the detail included in Julie’s SMART goals? Even just writing down a goal makes a difference but this level of detailed goal setting is truly powerful.

By being this specific Julia can compare potential opportunities to her specific goals. She has something to do every week. She can measure progress and make adjustments if she does not make the progress she expects.

If you want more structure, check out this great article by Shawn Lim, “11 Effective Goal Setting Templates for You”.

What are you willing to do to get what you willing to do to get what you want? Put your dreams on paper in SMART goals and see the magic that can happen!

Don’t settle for a mediocre career that you don’t want! LinkedIn offers many ways to find the ideal job or career for you! Get your FREE copy of the LinkedIn Career Advancement Tips and find the perfect career today.