Comments on: You Can't Recession Proof Your Job

By: Marsha Egan

Marsha Egan — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 22:12:03 +0000

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.

By: HRM Today - Blog Archive » You Canâ€™t Recession Proof Your Jobâ€¦or Can You?

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 20:23:57 +0000

[...] weeks ago, Lance wrote an article that suggested it is impossible to recession proof your job. While he may be right on with this one, itâ€™s not time to throw up the white flag just yet. It [...]

By: You Canâ€™t Recession Proof Your Job…or Can You? | YourHRGuy.com

You Canâ€™t Recession Proof Your Job…or Can You? | YourHRGuy.com — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 16:07:01 +0000

By: How to Job-Proof Your Recession | Jasonseiden.com | serhat-sine.com | Serhat SINE Blog & CV

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 09:00:33 +0000

[...] (Lance and Willy, thanks for the inspirations.) [...]

By: Dan Erwin

Dan Erwin — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 02:33:31 +0000

You can’t recession-proof your job. But you can keep yourself employable by constantly building that toolkit.

http://www.danerwin.com

By: HRM Today - Blog Archive » How to Job-Proof Your Recession

HRM Today - Blog Archive » How to Job-Proof Your Recession — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 17:09:01 +0000

[...] (Lance and Willy, thanks for the inspirations.) [...]

By: HRFan

HRFan — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 12:25:10 +0000

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.

By: Alan

Alan — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:59:43 +0000

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”.

By: Tim Moerke

Tim Moerke — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:28:57 +0000

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.

By: Kerry

Kerry — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:57:13 +0000

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.