5 Tips On How To Bulletproof Your Job
“It’s a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it’s a depression when you lose yours.” Harry S Truman (1884 – 1972), in Observer, April 13, 1958
During these apprehensive financial times, there is one thing that stands clearly as the most important factor in your current economic success: your job. For most of us, this is undoubtedly our main source of income, and our main lifeline to be able to save, invest, pay our mortgage, send our kids to college, etc.
Having a job is obviously an important part of life, but these days it’s absolutely critical. With the falling stock market, and real estate market, those who make a large portion of income from investments may now find that their job is the most important part of their portfolio. That’s why it’s important to make sure our job and position remain firm. Here are some tips I’ve gathered to just that end. Making sure we do everything we can to make our employment as solid as possible.
1. Make yourself part of the moneymaking. This is the first and foremost way of making sure your job is bulletproof. One of the key factors is making sure you are in the middle of how your company makes money. If you’re not sure how your company makes money, find out. Then, put yourself right in the middle of it. Become part of the moneymaking process for them. This could involve sales, it could involve changing positions, it could involve some massive change on your part, but the bottom line is if you make money for your company, you have made yourself indispensible.
2. Be Seen. Even if you’re not in the office full time, or telecommute, you’ll want to do your best to make sure that the boss, and top people see you around as much as possible. Don’t hide in your office, or the kitchen. Make special trips to see others, to ask questions. Even if something could be handled with a phone call or email, make a special trip to see the person and ask face to face. You’ll probably see a couple people as you walk to their office, and see them as well. The point is you want your face to be very visible, and recognizable. “It’s harder for most bosses to lay off people they see every day than those who come in only now and then”, says John Challenger, CEO of outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas.
3. Make those around you ( and above you ) look good. You’ll really get positive attention when you make those around you look good. Even if it doesn’t seem like you’re getting the attention, it will always eventually come back to you. Try to find out their needs, and foresee what problems they might face. If you can solve these problems before they arrive, or help them over come them, you’ll make yourself very important.
4. Networking. A lot of people have grown to hate this good old fashioned word, and for good reason. It sounds more like an event where you’re pushed into un-genuine relationships and schmoozing, then a pleasant form of friendship building. In his book “Never Eat Alone”, Keith Ferrazzi expels this myth, and denotes the importance of getting to know and enjoy people. The art of knowing people, and enjoying them is invaluable. Not only at the work place, but also in life in general. The more people you know, and have a good relationship with at work, the more solid your position will be. Try and make friends, and get to know people as much as possible. Use every opportunity you have to try and spark simple conversations. Just get to know and enjoy those around you.
5. Be easy. You want to be considered easy to work with. Therefor you want to always have a discussion with people, not an argument. You want to always be thinking of how to make this interaction easy. Most often this involves more actual work, and can take some finesse to get it right. But it will always pay off. If you can be considered one of the easy people to work with, you’ll be priceless.
“You must understand that your job is your most valuable asset — and your primary objective is to protect it.” – Writer Stephen Viscusi
U.S. Officially In Recession Says National Bureau of Economic Research
The NBER met via conference call on Friday, November 28th, and determined that the U.S. economy had peaked in December 2007, and since has been in recession.
The Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research met by conference call on Friday, November 28. The committee maintains a chronology of the beginning and ending dates (months and quarters) of U.S. recessions. The committee determined that a peak in economic activity occurred in the U.S. economy in December 2007. The peak marks the end of the expansion that began in November 2001 and the beginning of a recession. The expansion lasted 73 months; the previous expansion of the 1990s lasted 120 months.
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A recession is a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in production, employment, real income, and other indicators. A recession begins when the economy reaches a peak of activity and ends when the economy reaches its trough. Between trough and peak, the economy is in an expansion.
While most economists define recession as two consecutive quarters of declining Gross Domestic Product, the NBER’s definition of recession is more loosely based on their own chronological records of production, employment, income and other indicators. They have determined that the U.S. Economy hit a peak in December 2007, and therefore have since been in a recession based on that peak.
The Real Repercussions of a Failed Auto Industry
Ever wonder what would really happen if GM or Ford went out of business? All the talk recently of the government bailing out the American auto industry has just gotten me more frustrated with our government and it’s bailouts. What happened to good ol’ fashioned business? Where you had to make money to succeed, and if you didn’t you failed, and had to do something else. Lately, as the government has rescued business after business, it just makes me wonder how free is our market? I’ve thought, wow, I should work for Ford, or Fannie Mae or AIG, because apparently those jobs are government backed – pretty sweet.
So I decided to do a little research, and figure out what would really be the repercussions of a failed auto industry, to find out if it was really that bad. Let’s look at hypothetical scenario in which GM (the largest automaker at risk) declared bankruptcy and went out of business.
- Job Loss: First, GM would have to layoff almost all of their work force. In addition to those lost jobs, all the smaller companies that feed off the car manufacturer would also be in jeopardy. The Center for Automotive Research estimates that combined, this could be a loss of 2.5 million jobs.
- Unemployment Rate Rises: Last month, the unemployment rate rose to 6.5% adding 240,000 lost jobs to the U.S. Census, which was the highest it’s been since 1991. Compare that with a potential 2.5 million jobs lost if just GM where to go out of business.
- Economy Shrinks: The trickle down effect of having so many jobs lost is pretty large. Almost every facet of American economy would feel the hit. Because less people have jobs, and hence money to spend, there would be:
- Increased closings of small and mid-sized business. Pretty much all the small auto repair shops, car dealerships, and car part stores would feel a massive hit, and probably if not completely go out of business, have to cut down drastically.
- Increased Foreclosures, because more people would have lost their jobs, and their ability to pay their mortgage, there would be even more foreclosures and bank owned properties, which would drive the already dwindling real estate market down.
- Less money collected on income taxes, and property taxes. With less money going back into the economy, there would be less money going towards taxes. That means less revenue for the government, increased national and state debt, and less money for public services like police, firemen, teachers, etc.
So whether you’re for or against the auto industry bailout, one thing is for sure, the effects would be dire. What’s your opinion? Should the government step in and save the auto industry, or let the free market have it’s way? Let us know in the comments.
European Union Officially In Recession, Is The U.S. Next?
Today, the Wall Street Journal reported that the European Union is officially in recession. The EU, which makes up 15 countries in Europe, just completed their 2nd straight quarter of GDP decline, which officially puts them in a recession under the economic definition. This is the first time that the currency area of the euro-zone had two consecutive contracting outputs sense it began in 1999.
Specifically, Ireland, Germany, and Italy, some of the largest EU members have fallen into recession. The news could spark increased interest rate cuts, and could even affect the US.
Since the US and Europe are so heavily linked in the western world, and some might argue that the credit crunch in the US is much stronger than that in Europe, it would be hard to see how this couldn’t be a precursor to what’s to come in the US.
European politicians had insisted the currency area would be relatively unaffected by the credit crunch, which they saw as chiefly a U.S. problem. However, the euro zone has preceded the U.S. in entering a recession.
So far, the response of the European governments has not been as substantial as the US or Chinese, and hopefully that has been enough to fight off what has happened to our friends on the other side of the Atlantic.
What Is The Definition Of A Recession, And Are We In One?
After reading today that the unemployment rate had grown to a 14 year high of 6.5 percent the words “Recession” and “Depression” came to mind. I had a friend tell me recently that his definition of recession and depression was this:
“If you’re losing money consistently on your investments, we are in a recession. If you lose your job, we are in a depression.”
It seems that with the huge surge of foreclosures and the real estate slump, any job in and around construction and home improvement would be in jeopardy already. Throw in a slumping economy where people just don’t buy as much as they used to, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that many jobs will be lost.
So to read that the unemployment rate is on the rise caught my attention. Are we heading for a depression? And, if so, are we currently in a recession? This caused me to do a little research to find out if we are in fact in a recession. I read on so many articles that say we are “heading for a recession”. But honestly, it feels like we are already in a recession. So, are we in a recession?