Are you in need of a confidence boost, or a reassessment of your career path? The Global Financial Crisis is creating turmoil in many industries (e.g. retail, financial services, manufacturing, construction) so we all need to keep our finger on the pulse of employment, the job market and career opportunities.
There are a number of positive actions we can all take to position ourselves to our advantage, such as using these Five Self-Marketing Tips for Information Technology Employees and to Punch Above Your Weight! Drop Some Business Steriods – Get Your CIO Career Plan. You may even be considering Alternative non-IT Careers for Tech Workers – although it’s perhaps not that desparate yet.
Well, Richard at careershifters.org writes about a ‘career checklist’ which I think is a very useful tool to assess your current career situation. Some items in the list look obvious, but it’s surprising how few people actually do them. Now is the time to act positively and think about yourself and your career – focus on it.
What’s more, if you’re a leader of a team, it’s vital to encourage them to follow this checklist. If you’re feeling the strain, then they will be too. Fools amongst us hide their head in the sand and expect that everyone else is feeling buoyant, and loyal. This just isn’t the case.
I am an advocate of open conversation. My leadership style is to discuss matters before they become issues, so I’ve talked to my team about the impact of Global Recession and how the economy effects our industry and our organization. This has a very positive effect as it essesntially puts us on the front-foot and leaves a proverbial ‘open door’ for further discussion.
Not everyone is like this, but perhaps if this isn’t your default approach and you’re experiencing these kind of issues then it could be time to open the discussion and get it on the table?
Most likely RIFs – aka reductions in force – (how I hate the terms these folks come up with) will unfortunately increase in the months to come.
And surely Financial Services is due for a shake out in US/UK and perhaps beyond? (Although a good hedge might be to get an IT job in the offices of the regulatory agencies 😉 These folks will be hiring haha!)
For more on the financial crisis over to our experts at Sinfest (no joke!)
http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=2959
@Mark – I like the cartoon. It’s very poignant… it’s maybe the wrong way around though as it’s the taxpayers that are loaning the banks now, rather than the other way around!
@Simon – I hear you – but who are the banks being “encouraged” to loan the money to? (as well as to each other lol and the MNCs, and municipalities)
Why the illustrious Joe and Jane six-pack consumer, “homeowner” and credit card debt holder. I wonder if they realize what’s being done to them…again!!
Wow! I’ve overtaken Chris in the comments board. I hope he’s not a comment bot otherwise I’m done for (sorry, Chris R2D2, just my Irish humour..)
@Mark,
Don’t worry about me being a bot.
I briefly thought about writing one but then I couldn’t find the “irony” and “sarcasm” modules in the python standard library.
As far as the economy: The banks are still going to get creamed, splattered on The Wall.
The standard of living will decline and more people will struggle. But struggling is good for the soul and realizing what’s important: one’s health and family.
This is a necessary adjustment.
As far as the post itself: I know I will be out of a job Summer 2009, but then I am pursuing many other opportunities. Expenses are assured until Christmas 2009, so I’m doing ok there.
And absolutely it’s important to talk to people about these issues. I found that when it’s a national/global crisis, it’s a lot easier for people to talk about the precariousness of their financial situation. In times of crisis people support each other. Who would have thought?
@Chris – talking about *anything* that has an effect on a wide population is always good. I find it a kind of therapy, as do many of the people I talk to. Don’t you?
It’s interesting that we feel that we can talk about issues that impact us all, and then is it feasible to think that, because of this, we can all work together to resolve it?
There is an interesting service (might be UK only) called Zopa.com. There are probably similar services available elsewhere. This is a social lending service that cuts out the banks and is a way of loaning, or borrowing, with other people.
@Simon
Yeah, it’s always good to communicate about stressful issues. So many people share them. It gives us the ability to demonstrate empathy toward each other, which builds confidence.
As far as zopa, yes, there are services like that here.