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Forget Reality TV: This is the Real

by Annette Clemens, Assistant Director

If you are either a CEO of a Fortune 500 company with access to a lucrative pension plan or a mid-level manager, nothing in this article will be anything you need to worry about.  So you can stop reading now.

Now that I have your attention, my guess is that most people who are glued to their computer screens reading this article are not in a position to not worry about the job market, whether we’re in the middle of a job boom or deep into a recession.  In other words, the only people who don’t have to worry are the ones who fall into the two categories above (and that’s only if they’ve invested wisely).  The rest of us working fools will always need to be prepared for downturns, i.e., recessions and job cuts.

If you’ve attended a College of Business Internship Training Seminar, then you have already learned some of the basics of employment survival (and if you haven’t attended a seminar, please do so, pronto!)  The focus on resume writing, interviewing, and professional image are all things that serve as a foundation for a successfully employed person.  However, even writing a stellar resume, interviewing like a pro, and looking like a professional is only part of the battle.  The real test of survival comes in the work you do before you pass on your resume to someone.

There are three basic areas you need to attend to that many professionals overlook.  They may all sound like common sense, but you’d be surprised how many people become complacent and don’t deal with these things until they’re in crisis mode.

Keep your network “tuned”:  Don’t lose touch with your professional and personal contacts.  It’s always good to maintain your social network.  When you call to ask someone if they would serve as a reference for you, the last thing you want is for the person to think you’ve dropped off the face of the earth or, worse yet, have them spend five minutes trying to remember who you are.  Sending an occasional e-mail (perhaps once every four to six months) is a good way of managing your network.

Keep your resume current:  Ah, the lure of becoming “resume lazy”!  It’s always such a relief to get a job offer that the tendency is to put the document back into a drawer, never allowing it to see the light of day again.  But as sure as George Romero is going to keep making those zombie movies (think Night of the Living Dead), your resume will rise again.  You should continually be adding new skills, new duties, new jobs to your resume.  It is a living document until the day you announce your retirement.

Keep up to date with software:  Everyone’s favorite item, I’m sure.  You may wonder why you would need to learn Microsoft Access when all you use is Word and Power Point.  Don’t let software apathy bite you in the butt!  Showing at least a working knowledge of many different software packages shows not just an ability to use them, but a willingness to learn outside of your usual scope.  Today’s workforce is characterized by a continual learning of new skills.  If your employer offers free training courses, by all means sign up for some!  Learning new skills is essential in today’s job market as well as reinforcing your value to your current employer.

Learning to incorporate these aspects into your professional life won’t guarantee you won’t feel the bumps and bruises in today’s volatile job market.  There is no inoculation against job cuts.  But keeping these suggestions in mind can help you better weather the storms you will surely experience in the next 30+ years of your working life.  Remember, staying gainfully employed is partly just being plain good at your job, and part survival.