Sail Through Recession

The world of job seeking can be all consuming from secretly stalking the open request page of your dream company to sending endless applications into the black hole of online job listings, your job search can quickly begin to feel like a job in and of itself. With numerous openings on the list, one must feel happy with the numerous options that they can juggle, but what the blooming market gets covered in grey and is struck by recession.

Recession as a whole is a negative influence on the economy. This becomes even scarier for the working professionals, as it brings along a whole new world of worries, stress, and what-ifs. Going through a downward economy can be stressful, but it is the overall attitude that makes all the difference in being negative or turning around an opportunity. Here are a few tips to survive the phase every working professional dreads:

• First and foremost, if you still have your job, try and put in a few extra hours at work.

This doesn’t mean you stretch way beyond your limits, but simply to put in a little more effort and hard work to deliver a little extra work. It will not harm you; rather, the benefit to this would be that the company will consider you as a dedicated person who can be relied upon during tough times

• Try to update your expertise portfolio with as many skills as you can

During recession, most organizations look for a person who can serve as an all-rounder, and give them the extra bang for their buck. Needless to say, companies would much rather prefer a person who knows, let’s say, seven skills, over a person who knows only four. This simply means that you should always keep learning new things that are above and beyond your normal job duties, because hey, extra knowledge never harmed anyone!

• Always be ready for layoffs, and keep your resume up to date

While this is a time to stay positive, a realistic view doesn’t do any harm. Even if you have not been laid off, always maintain a back-up plan ready in case you get fired. This includes keeping your resume up-to-date and searching for jobs even when you’re still working. That way, you won’t be under sudden pressure to look for a job just for the sake of being employed. You should also look out for extending your network, especially on LinkedIn with people you know, so that they can help you out during your job search phase.

• Take up a part-time or contract-based job to earn extra income

During recession, a few extra bucks always help. Taking up a part-time job is one such option where you do not require putting in much effort, and in most cases, this can be done from the comfort of your own home. The list is exhaustive, but the top choices for this can be:

• Conducting paid surveys for products/services: Companies these days depend heavily on how their offerings are perceived in the market. As such, they are ready to pay anything to know what their customers want/need from them, and signing up with such companies to undertake paid surveys can be a source of extra income.
• Starting an online business: The clear winner here that emerges is blogging. All you need is decent grammar and writing skills, and a clear thought process for what you want to write on. You can come up with innovative ways to bring traffic to your site/blog, and in return, get paid.
• Undertaking website/graphic design for companies: If you’re creative and can easily create something meaningful and innovative in art for companies, then website/graphic design is another area where you can earn money in return for your services. 

• Save money and clear as much of your expenses as you can

The last and the most obvious in this list is to start saving early, so that you have something in hand in case of an emergency. Ideally, while you can, you should also clear as much debt/previous expenses that you have, so that even if you’re laid off, you are left with at least something to keep going on. Saving money can help a lot when one is not employed, and can be a huge booster.

Be prepared before your career is hit by a storm. Although recession is a tough phase, one should not take it too negatively. Like always there will be calm afterwards!!