Long-Term Career Survival

Class Location: The Internet.

Description: This course is designed to help you with long-term employment.

Objective: Find out how to greatly improve your chances at long-term employment with any company.

In today’s work environment of rapidly changing technology and economy, job security is never guaranteed. Even if you perform exceptionally, maintain your focus, and show fierce loyalty to your employer, the bottom line may lessen his loyalty to you. Still, there are a number of ways you can protect your employability in the long term:

• Make yourself a part of the inner circle of people in your department or company whose input is requested on important decisions. This will make you more essential and make your job more stable. During your first few days at a new job, tell your boss how much you want to be a valuable part of the team. Ask him to meet with you regularly during the first few months to make sure you’re on the right track. Try to continue this arrangement beyond that time frame. This will increase your personal attention and positive feedback from your boss. It will also gain you access to company information you might not otherwise have.

• Take the time to become computer literate. Familiarity with basic computer programs will make you more desirable if you need to begin your job search again.

• Instead of continuously updating your resume every time you gain new experience, turning it into a hodgepodge, take the time to rewrite it from scratch to meet the demands of the current employment environment. Have it at the ready. You never know when you might need it.

• Make yourself part of the in-crowd by constantly communicating with and learning from your peers. Join at least one professional association—even if you can’t work with all the important people, you can interact with them at association functions. When a company needs to hire a professional, management usually thinks about the one from the association meetings who stands out as someone who goes the extra mile by dedicating time and effort to his profession.

• Continuously foster connections, even if you don’t need them at the time. Hold onto business cards, and make an effort to contact all your connections at least once a year. When the time comes for you to seek out job assistance, those connections will be much more inclined to help you if they’ve heard from you since the first time you met. And you’ll be fresh in their minds if their company is looking to hire.

• Save the “Help Wanted” section of your city’s major newspaper every Sunday, even if you’re not looking for a job. When the time comes for you to begin your job search, this collection of old job ads will tell you where the jobs are in your area and give you specifics about the qualifications different companies want.

• Never blow off a head hunter if you believe she has professional integrity. If she contacts you for assistance, help her if you can. You may not need her services now, but she can be a great asset later when you need a new job.

Following these steps will help protect your professional longevity, even if your job security turns out to be less than secure.