By now you’ve probably heard talk of an impending recession, and I’m here to tell you it’s not just talk. A recession is right around the corner.
This is the 4th recession I’ve been through. I graduated from college in 1990 at the height of one. I then worked in HR & recruiting through the dot.com bust and the Great recession of 2008.
In fact, I started WorkItDaily.com as a result of the last recession. I looked at my husband and said,
“It’s not fair. School teaches us everything EXCEPT how to look for work and help our careers survive things like this.”
I’m lucky. In a time when he could have convinced me to wait and not risk us losing money on building a start-up company, he said “Go for it. They need your help.”
12 years later my team and I have worked with literally THOUSANDS of people who have lost their jobs unexpectedly. I learned a lot about HR & Recruiting during this time, and I want to share what I learned with you.
3 Traits That Make An Employee Indispensable In The Eyes Of Their Employer.
- You Take Work Off Your Manager’s Plate. Chances are your boss already has a full workload. If you help ease this by doing the work he or she doesn’t want to, it’s a great way to ensure job security. Why? Because letting you go means taking back all that extra work.
- You Help Bring In The Dough. People who do jobs that directly impact the creation of revenue are keepers. If you can quantify how much money you’ve made the company and it can stack up against that of your peers, you’ve landed yourself in a good position.
- You’re Cheap Labor. This isn’t an insult or a slight on your work ethic, in fact it may be the thing that keeps you employed. When the market conditions turn downward, the first thing employers do is look to cut costs. Then, their total compensation is put next to their names. Anyone who was lower on the list but has a higher salary than someone higher on the list gets singled out for the layoff. Bottom line: if you aren’t a company moneymaker, and you don’t lessen your manager’s workload, and you have a higher salary with a low performance rating, the chances go way up that you’re on the layoff list.
How Can I Prepare For A Recession?
The biggest thing to remember in layoffs is that even if you are an amazing employee, no one is ever completely safe. The best thing you can do for yourself is prepare for the unexpected. i.e. Check out some free training on how to prepare your career for a recession.
In my experience, people struggle to find the motivation to search for a new job after they were blindsided by layoffs. It makes sense, if they didn’t see it coming it can make them feel ashamed and damage their career confidence.
This is why I want to stress the importance of preparation. If you are prepared now to dive in, you will come out on top. As they say, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
P.S.S. If you don’t think a membership to my company’s career coaching service is for you (yet).
At Work It Daily, we put together the following free career growth tools for you:
- A complete job search checklist.
CLICK HERE to DOWNLOAD the pdf file.
- A list of the 18 most common interview questions.
CLICK HERE to DOWNLOAD the pdf file.
- Free cover letter samples.
CLICK HERE to DOWNLOAD the pdf file.
- Guide to changing careers.
CLICK HERE to DOWNLOAD the pdf file.
- Masterclass on how to avoid common job search mistakes.