Recession-proofing your career

Do you fear losing your job and becoming unemployed? Here are some tips

Patricia Kitchen | Change@work

12:09 PM EST, March 7, 2008

Whether you believe President George W. Bush, who says we are not in a recession, or multibillionaire investor Warren Buffett, who says we are, just the fear of economic bad times and the job turmoil that results can be reasons to stop and think:

How can we strengthen our positions where we are working now? And perhaps, if it becomes necessary, avoid that deer-in-the-headlights feeling when a pink slip arrives and make a smoother transition to another job?

Such preparation goes well beyond updating your resume -- though that clearly should be at the top of the list. This is like a game of chess, and you want to be anticipating "not just the next move but two or three down the road," says Bill Heather, senior vice president in the Melville office of Right Management, a career management and outplacement company.

The natural inclination is to "live in a comfort zone" and hope for the best, he says, but "don't let things happen to you. You make sure you manage your own future."

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Here are some suggestions from Heather and others:

Get networked

You've probably heard it time and again: Join and become active in a professional association -- and don't wait until after you've lost your job.

Flo Federman, president of the Public Relations Professionals of Long Island, says she is seeing an small uptick in the number of laid-off communications professionals joining with an eye to drumming up freelance work.

Belonging to such a group is a valuable career enhancement at any time, says Federman, director of marketing communications at Holtz Rubenstein Reminick Llp in Melville, but the value of doing so before a layoff is that you don't have to start "from scratch building relationships and asking for help. You already have a foundation with people."

As the economy takes a dip -- and produces an increase in the number of laid-off human resources professionals asking for Heather's help -- he says he's resuscitating an informal networking group for those in that profession looking for work or concerned they may have to do a job search. In previous incarnations, such a group met monthly at his office to discuss issues like Long Island trends and market data.

Use company resources

After six years with a Manhattan publishing firm, Raymond Reinhardt, 33, decided to take advantage of his employer's tuition reimbursement plan to get his MBA at Adelphi University. When he was about six months shy of graduation last spring, his employer, a publishing firm in Manhattan, announced plans to relocate his department of 600 to Ohio.

So there he was not inclined to move, but about to receive what he calls "the Swiss Army knife of degrees." He paid for the final semester himself and though he says he had a few rough moments, he landed a job quickly as a financial representative at NRL Wealth Creation Strategies Llc in Westbury. Though his initial intention had been to advance within his former company, he wound up with that firm footing the bill for his upgraded skills -- which enabled him to move to another employer. It turned out to be "a get-out-of-jail slip for a rainy day," says Reinhardt of Hicksville.

Far less intense and time-consuming than an MBA program is the in-house training that many employers offer in the latest computer software programs, as well as management techniques. In signing up for such training, you win not only if you stay but also if you have to go.

Update skills

Even if your employer won't pay for updating your skills, do it yourself -- and look at it as a career investment. Elana Zolfo, vice president of corporate programs and continuing education at Dowling College, says she is getting more questions from people she meets at business events regarding what skills they are wise to brush up on in an iffy economy.

Among the most popular short-term classes at Dowling, she says, are business writing, marketing, time management, speaking/presentation skills and customer service.

These days, she says, she's not seeing panic among the people she meets -- but more people are "contemplating their futures."

Strategize

As you read industry blogs and e-letters, as well as company newsletters, make note of what appear to be growth areas. If it is possible to transfer to one of those hot areas -- and if it makes sense to you -- try to set such a move in motion. At the very least, get to know people who work in those departments and collaborate with them when possible. The result: You'll have contacts in hot, growing segments -- and they'll know people in similar areas at other companies, which could be helpful if you have to do a job search.

You're also wise to befriend the 20-somethings in your office. Why? Because many are up to date with the latest skills and technology gadgets and can help you learn. Plus, Heather says, as a group they are more "change-hearty and resilient," and some of that might just rub off on you.

College career center

Has it occurred to you that you can turn to the college or university you attended for career help? In the past week alone, Barbara Church-Kattan, director of graduate business career services at the Zarb School of Business at Hofstra University, says she's heard from one alumnus who had been laid off and another who is worried about impending changes at his company. And, she says, the latter told her that when he realized those changes were coming, "the first person he thought of was me."

Unless you're a recent graduate, career center professionals may not know of immediate openings at your level, but they certainly can help with your resume and strategy, as Church-Kattan has, as well as make introductions.

Raise your hand: If you like your job and want to stay, volunteer for new assignments, says Valentina Janek, who last April co-founded the Long Island Breakfast Club, an advocacy, support and job search group for those age 40 and over.

Janek, who was laid off three years ago and is now marketing director at ARS Financial Services in Jericho says in good times some companies routinely have offered bonuses to employees who come up with money-making or money-saving ideas, but in a tough economy that reward may simply be a continued paycheck. It's important to keep offering such ideas, she says -- and to let your employer know "I'm here to stay."

Along those lines, Brad Karsh, founder of JobBound, a Chicago-based resume writing, interviewing and job preparation service, says employees need to "know the problems, don't complain and come up with solutions."

Fall-back income

Many people who are laid off consider starting a consulting business even as they look for full-time work. Janek's advice is to put that ball in motion while you're still employed.

Heather agrees. One of the worst things you can do, he says, is get laid off and say, "I'm going to start a business, having done no planning, no research and with no idea what you're talking about." Such endeavors, he says, are likely to fail. Better to do all the preparatory planning while you're employed and "you still have that comfort paycheck coming in."