5 Ways to Recession-Proof Your Career
January 21st, 2008 (6:28am) Anne Zelenka 34 Comments
We could already be suffering a recession in the U.S., and the tech industry is not immune, as potential Yahoo! layoffs show. What should you be doing now to protect yourself?
Keep building that online persona. Share who you are and what you’re about online — through a blog or other means. Raising your professional profile online is one of the best ways to attract new job and business opportunities your way. Don’t just create an online version of a resume; get active and connected online.
Create additional income streams, even if you are an employee. Or perhaps especially if you are an employee — because your salary is vulnerable to disappearing all at once, while freelancers and business owners usually have multiple clients.
How can you create additional streams of income? Find a side job as a freelancer (be careful not to break any of your employer’s noncompete policies by doing so), start an ad-supported blog, sell products online, or offer consulting services in your field of expertise. While none of these things will — at least initially — make enough money to replace a full-time-with-bennies job, they can cushion the pain of income loss while teaching you new skills and growing your professional network.
Stay aware of what the market wants. Even during a recession, jobs go begging when employers can’t find people with the right skills. Even if you’re not looking for a job or more contract work right now, subscribe to Craigslist job listing feeds using searches that match what kind of positions might interest you. You’ll keep yourself informed as to what skills you might need to add to your arsenal, what companies are hiring in your area, and whether hires in your field are trending up or down.
Invest in human capital. In other words, beef up your skills. You don’t have to spend money on classes to do so, though that might be the easiest way to learn the basics of something unfamiliar to you. You can spend your time: find an unpaid internship with training as your compensation, do volunteer work for a nonprofit, get involved in an open source effort, or start your own just-for-learning-purposes project.
Create social capital too. If you do lose your job or a major client, your next one may very well come through your online network of friends and associates. Your online social network can not only help find new opportunities just when you need them, it can also provide emotional support when you go through tough times. Not sure exactly how to go about creating social capital? Here are some tips for networking like a human.
For more tips on recession-proofing your career, see Robert Scoble’s article from December “Surviving the 2008 recession” and Penelope Trunk’s article posted today “Maybe there will be a recession. Here’s what to do just in case.”
34 Comments Post your own comment
Reviews of other blogs « Michelle Herbert’s Weblog says: January 21st, 2008 12:39pm
[...] http://webworkerdaily.com/2008/01/21/recession-proof-your-career/ [...]
linkerjpatrick says: January 21st, 2008 1:16pm
I or rather the position I have held in companies have been the subject of what I would classify as “mini” or “in-house” recessions. If anything my company had it’s “recession” last year but so far this year we are making greater strides and advancements in the first half of January than we did at least in the last quarter of last year.
I’m currently a self-employed small business owner and I have pretty much been adhering the advice of the points above. We gotten either clients or made significant networking contacts through online social networking and being self-employed I am no longer bound to the environment of one employer but am diversifying my talents among many clients which for all practical purposes is like working for many employers. In fact one of my past employers is now a client. I don’t work for them 40 hours a week but they still need the skills of me or my company.
while the economy may take a downturn in some places their is plenty of room for innovation and entrepreneurs in such a climate.
Invasiones Bárbaras | Y tú, ¿estás listo para la recesión? says: January 21st, 2008 9:48pm
[...] venidera en EEUU. El segundo, en una línea similar, el blog Web Worker Daily brinda también maneras para poner tu carrera a prueba de recesiones. Con toda esa onda de pánico en el aire era difícil que no me sumara a la locura (he aquí mi [...]
DHARA says: January 22nd, 2008 12:42am
Very useful information
webdesign says: January 22nd, 2008 1:33am
nice tutorial !! i think my carreer is going to be fine
clopinettes says: January 22nd, 2008 5:02am
All good points. Especially that of building up the online persona – I was surprised, this week, to be asked to write a piece for an Italian magazine. And it was based entirely on what they found and saw on one of the blogs I maintain.
Ultimately – if you work hard at it, the rewards are usually there. I said… hopefully!
5 Ways To Recession-Proof Your Career » PC Mechanic says: January 22nd, 2008 8:06am
[...] posted a great post about 5 Ways to Recession-Proof Your Career. This morning I am going to give you my own twist on [...]
leeeby says: January 22nd, 2008 10:11am
Very well said. All of this information is important if you want to achieve any level of success. You must always be growing your network. If it is online or local doesn’t matter.
jay says: January 22nd, 2008 7:31pm
Don’t forget “Find a nice paying government job”. Not everyone is subject to recession necessarily. Many dismiss working for the government because of the “low pay” which is often wrong or mis-leading. Spend a couple of months looking for a new gig, and working for the Man doesn’t look so bad. Also, government jobs have often been viewed in the past as “behind the curve” but that is not true either. Where I am, we are early adopters and constantly stride to stay ahead of the curve. It’s not your father’s government anymore.
Stephanie says: January 22nd, 2008 8:26pm
My husband just got laid off today. I’m working on getting him to look at improving his career, not just sticking to the same industry, which his father is telling him to do. I don’t think the quick and easy job is the right solution when it’s a field highly subject to recession (home decor).
But we are doing a lot of networking and seeing what can be found job-wise.
Clark says: January 22nd, 2008 9:47pm
You advice is sound.
Eons ago my studio teacher used to impress upon us the need to diversify your sources of income. He taught us to create a pie chart and divide it with various different jobs/activities. The object being not to rely on any one source of income and have the ability to focus on one piece of the pie when another is suffering.
Whether you work for the government or are a freelancer it’s a good habit to get into.
#2782 » Blog Archive » Recession proofing your career says: January 23rd, 2008 7:36am
[...] the 2008 recession post back in December but today the WebWorker Daily started offering advice on 5 ways to recession proof your career. While Penelope Trunk has a slightly more optimistic take; Maybe there will be a recession. [...]
Loosing my Job says: January 23rd, 2008 4:16pm
Some good advice there, much appreciated. I think creating additional income streams is a very important one on your list, something people could forget.
stories from an ordinary life » news & links for you says: January 24th, 2008 12:58am
[...] 5 Ways to Recession-Proof Your Career [Web Worker Daily], found via Lifehacker [...]
Pamela Rosen says: January 24th, 2008 10:15am
As someone who is doing exactly this, I can tell you that this article is right on the money. I was out of work for seven months two years ago. I decided that I was in marketing, so I should conduct my job search like a marketing campaign. I designed a website to promote myself, I put myself all over Facebook and LinkedIn, connected them, promoted these links in all my emails, and started a blog about professional contract workers (www.contractrangers.com/rangerblog/). Now that my current contract is coming to an end, these are really starting to pay off. The phone is ringing off the hook.
What to do if you’re laid off [LinkUp] at Life-Remixed.com says: January 24th, 2008 7:01pm
[...] 5 Ways to Recession-Proof Your Career – Web Worker Daily [...]
The Cart Blog » Blog Archive » Recession-proof your career says: January 29th, 2008 3:49am
[...] really enjoyed this article, and in particular, the second point. Create additional income streams, even if you are an [...]
A little recession goes a long way. « Ubiquitously says: January 31st, 2008 4:25pm
[...] What to do if you’re laid off in 2008 recession. Best Time to Look for a Job Market’s Wild Ride Ends With Dow at 15-Month Low 5 Ways to Recession-Proof Your Career [...]
Lazy Sunday Link Love says: February 3rd, 2008 5:21pm
[...] Web Worker Daily has got 5 Way to Recession-Proof Your Career [...]
How Do You Recession-Proof Your Career? at i-advertising says: February 10th, 2008 2:39pm
[...] [Web Worker Daily] With unemployment rates rising, the market going nuts , and big internet companies planning layoffs , it’s hard not to worry about a recession here in the States, if not a full on tech bust. The Web Worker Daily blog and career coach Penelope Trunk both list ways you can bolster your career in the face of possible layoffs (and job search), like creating an impressive online persona and doing something great at your current job to add to your resume. More @ Web Worker Daily [...]
A Lesson on Swimming with the Sharks | 7P Productions says: February 11th, 2008 5:43am
[...] Following current news can help give valuable life lessons. Have you wondered how Exxon recently broke the record for highest US profits in history, yet the rest of America is worried about recession and unemployment? [...]
thecubemonkey says: March 10th, 2008 5:15am
I have a few articles that I’ve written on this topic. Recession news seems to permeate the media these days so I thought I’d share my articles.
Recession-proofing your career
How to financially survive a recession
More Recession Proofing Tips: Layoff Preperation
What to do if you get laid off
Enjoy!
Ron
The Cube Monkey
Weekend Reading: June 15, 2008 | Moolanomy says: June 15th, 2008 5:54am
[...] an opportunity to begin a new career (The Simple Dollar), take a mini retirement (Get Rich Slowly), invest in yourself (Web Worker Daily), or find other sources of income [...]
Benefits of being unemployed! | Life on File says: June 15th, 2008 9:46am
[...] taking out more loans or spending money on classes, consider other ways of investing in yourself. Web Worker Daily advises readers to build their online persona; a strong online presence, created through a personal [...]
The Workosaur Blog » Blog Archive » The Workosaur Linkfest says: October 4th, 2008 3:41pm
[...] Robert Scoble on what to do if you lose your job during this recession Web Worker daily on how to recession-proof your career Using the web in your efforts to get a Job: Read Write Web on web-enabled job hunting Marketing [...]
Management Jobs: RiseSmart on recession-proofing says: October 13th, 2008 3:26am
[...] The full post is here. [...]
Raising your income during the “Recession” « MJC Management “The Magazine” says: October 25th, 2008 8:36pm
[...] http://webworkerdaily.com/2008/01/21/recession-proof-your-career/ [...]
Website bouwen says: November 24th, 2008 7:29am
Nice tips, great article, thanks
» Waking Up Unemployed? says: December 7th, 2008 8:29pm
[...] 5 Ways to Recession-Proof Your Career [...]
5 must-read articles on recession proofing your job/career « Marketing Nirvana says: December 8th, 2008 2:38am
[...] Web Worker Daily (subscribe) – 5 ways to recession proof your career [...]
Gen Y: If You Wake Up Unemployed … says: December 25th, 2008 11:07am
[...] 5 Ways to Recession-Proof Your Career [...]
Surviving A Recession says: January 6th, 2009 4:30am
You have made some really great points here. I think that anyone that is actively leveraging the Internet will be much more likely to survive and prosper during a recession than those that do not. The opportunities available from leveraging the Internet are limited only by your imagination. For me, points one and five are the most important. The more people you know and work with the better off you will be.
Maria Sinclair says: February 24th, 2009 7:14am
This is my suggestion [as a small business owner with 5 staff]:
1. Cut back on all current expenses to the bare minimum but don’t take out anything that you must retain to service your existing level of cash customers – forget about new customers.
2. Focus on the customers who will be around in the future.
3. For the expenses you cannot cut back – join a barter exchange or offset trade exchange. Work out what your fixed expenses are which remain and see if you can barter for them. I was reading an email from a company called Ormita Commerce Network [?] recently and it seemed to click to me that they could be right – if I can swap $1000 worth of new sales for $1000 worth of existing expenses I already pay cash for then I will be in a better position [I will have saved myself $1000 cash right??? depending on the cost it takes me to fulfil the $1000 in new sales.. so it could be $1000 savings if its spare time or it may be $500 savings if I sell a real product]. Either way I save money. Their website is http://www.ormita.com. I looked at it and was impressed. When I rang they said they havent launched yet though so I am .. waiting.. patiently.. until that happens. In the interim I have started to use Craigslist and have done the occasional barter deal but I like hte idea of a more formalised method first.
Hives Remedy Guru says: March 5th, 2009 11:24am
What has helped us the most with our biz. in this recession is multi biz. lines. At first it is tough to keep all the balls juggling but right now it has been our savior.