I got an e-mail from Johnny over at AskMen.com about an article they published regarding recession proofing your job. I read it with great interest as I’ve seen a few of these sorts of articles before and they haven’t come through. What silver bullet would they demonstrate that could ensure success and job security during a recession?
They suggested a combination of a positive attitude, being visible, taking initiative and seeking feedback. These are all solid things. These are things you should be doing (not just during a recession but at all times). I would have probably added a few more things but what do I know?
I hate to give away the ending but none of these things will recession proof your job. Seriously, nothing you can do can keep you protected from the disaster of losing your job. I know there are many people out there desperately looking for help and are getting scared about their jobs. I’ve felt that too. It is perfectly fine.
But this advice? It’s not going to hurt you but I don’t think it will ultimately help you. Your job security is much more nuanced than any of these articles would suggest.
To have a recession proof job, you’d have to work for a recession proof company. There are no companies left that aren’t impacted in some way by the economic climate. So throw that out. Even if you are vital to your company, if your company is not vital to its customers or you get competition that pushes you out, you don’t have a recession proof job.
Let’s say you have a recession proof company like the government, your job is still not recession proof because the priorities and funding of the government are always changing. Ask anyone working for the government as a scientist or in research. You get your one year contract that can be renewed. You have teachers being laid off because there is a decline in students. You have towns like Youngstown, Ohio who have lost thousands of people and have reduced all areas of their government. Very few jobs in the government are untouchable even if it has seemed that way the last decade or two.
Instead of worrying about your job (where you have limited control), why don’t you prepare your life for the recession? This not only involves doing your best at work but also making sound fiscal choices and taking control of the things that you can control. Everything else? Just be prepared for whatever possibility could come along.
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Absolutely. You can’t recession proof your job. But you can make sure you are always learning new skills and networking. Both can help you keep you at current company (notice I did not say job) and put you in a better position should the pink slip come…
You’re absolutely correct. Two days ago my wife found out that the company she works for is going under, closing up in 2 weeks. Nothing she could have done to “recession proof” her job would have changed that.
My salary alone doesn’t even cover our mortgage to say nothing of all our other bills, expenses and food. We’re kind of fucked.
Lance, I love ya, buddy, and while I think there’s some merit to your points, as an evangelist of personal responsibility, I have to present this alternative:
while you may not be able to recession proof your job, you CAN recession-proof your career. That’s a longer story, though, so tomorrow, I’ll just post about how to job-proof your recession.
That’ll be more fun for everyone, don’t you think?
@Corey – That is incredibly important. Not only can it help you retain A job at your company but also gives you some portable equity.
@Guav – Exactly. There are many things out of a person’s control when it comes to your job.
@Jason – Don’t disagree. Hence the whole “prepare your life for the recession” argument instead of recession proofing your job. A person needs to be prepared and should do what they can to do that. That being said, there are a ton of things out of a person control. There’s no silver bullet here.
Agree with the last point – find skills that are portable to attempt to recession proof the career/life. Relying on an employer presents all the challenges that LH outlines.
What is Steve Blake doing to recession-proof his career? Shooting extra threes at practice? Working on his strength? Buying the Expedition instead of the Escalade?
Amen.
My husband works for a hospital. You would think that would be fairly recession-proof, because people get sick no matter what…but they’re cutting too. Fewer employed people means fewer people with health insurance. That’s translated to fewer elective procedures and deferred care even for necessary treatments.
Good career management, combined with basic good financial sense (like avoiding credit card debt), is the best insurance against tough times like these.
Excellent post, Lance. Sometimes, focusing on how to get the next job is more effective than spending a lot of time and energy worrying about how to keep your current one. Staying flexible and adaptable will get people further than trying to stay afloat on a sinking ship.
There is something else that you have missed. It is the foundation you build within you. It encompasses the learning, asking questions, taking initiative, but it also includes your faith and just plain old luck. I have been excused before due to the personality of my prvious boss. There are some things that are just out of your control, and whether we are in a recession or not, you will run into some of these events in your career.
I think back of all the successes and failures over my career so far of 22 years and I would say that I am one of the more successful on the bell curve (no where near the top though). Although I have never been laid off (although there were layoffs in some of the companies I’ve worked for), I have been let go due to not getting along with a direct report (or at least not meeting their expectations).
My take in this is that after all is said and done, you eventually stop working and then recall your work life and look at all the things you accomplished, wanted to accomplish, failed to accomplish and you ask yourself whether is was satisfying to yourself or not. What we all need to do is not so much think about our career as what we did or didn’t achieve, but instead need to look at what kinds of things we learned, what kind of mistakes we made, what kind of people we worked above, below and with and just let that be a part of our overall life history.
Remember, there is more to life than just our career and it will come to pass some day. It seems we should put as much effort into our families, our faith in God and our interactions with people over the period of our life to determine whether our life was meaningful or not. Judging the meaningfullness of your life based on your career (as King Solomon would say) is “Meaningless”.
There once was a man from Nantucket,
Who’s job was to clean the fish bucket;
In an attempt to save a few grand,
His company outsourced to Thailand;
So he kissed the U.S. goodbye and went to Phuket.
You can’t recession-proof your job. But you can keep yourself employable by constantly building that toolkit.
http://www.danerwin.com
I really like the expression, “recession– proof your life.” I also think that there is merit to “recession proofing your career.” You’re right, no one can really control what companies will do. But to not take action, and to essentially play victim is not an option. While you might lose your job, you won’t lose the sum total of all of your experience in the value you could bring to another company — that is why I like to think of these actions as related to your career, rather than your job.