How to Protect Your Career During a Recession

Build up your skill sets.

Depending on your career and specific job, there are a lot of different skill sets you may be able to learn. If you’re focusing on recession-proofing your current job, start by developing new job specific skills. Hone in on things that are most important to your position and how they align with overall business objectives. If you’re focusing on recession-proofing your overall career, make sure you’re up-to-date on the latest best practices, certifications and any other skill set that will make your professional accomplishments stand out above the rest.

You may also be surprised to learn that building your soft skills can impact your retainability. A LinkedIn study found that 59 percent of U.S. hiring managers believe it’s difficult to find candidates with soft skills. Spending time building your communication, teamwork, critical thinking, social and interpersonal skills can help you build a greater connection to your coworkers and boss. Although soft skills are not easy to measure, investing time in building them can give you the slightest edge if your company is considering who to let go in the face of economic hardship.

Focus on improving your adaptability.

To thrive in an ever changing world, businesses need to stay on top.

Adaptability is not something you can learn overnight, it needs to be practiced. If you don’t know how to begin practicing adaptability (other than by googling it), start by changing your thought process and becoming more open minded. When you open yourself to see things differently, you pave the way for yourself to create new opportunities. Another way you can practice adaptability is by asking yourself circumstantial questions about the future, rather than the past. Asking yourself questions about the future rather than the past forces you to visualize what could be instead of what has been.

Once you’re able to apply your adaptability skills at work, you’ll find yourself naturally learning more, asking more questions, embracing challenges more fluidly, and most importantly, you’ll be able to remain relevant.

Leverage the power of your network.

When we talk about leveraging your network, we don’t mean compiling a list of contacts with people you had a conversation with once or maybe twice. We really mean taking the time to strengthen your relationship with the people you’ve connected with. One of the best ways to do this is simply by checking in on them asking them how their current job and career goals are going. This helps you come across as more genuine when the time comes that you actually do need something from them.

Consider moving into an essential industry.

Every year there seems to be the new “it” job or career to move into, but how sustainable are they? If you’re really looking to recession-proof your whole career, you may want to consider moving into one of these industries:

• Healthcare - Healthcare is always going to be in demand, especially in the face of a global pandemic. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), health care is the fastest growing industry and is expected to add the most jobs in the next 10 years.

• Education - The BLS also sites private educational services is projected an industry with one of the fastest annual employment growth

• Information Technology - If COVID-19 has taught us anything (other than social distancing), it’s the importance of the ability for a company to work remotely. According to the BLS, computer and mathematical occupations account for 6 of the 30 fastest growing occupations. More specifically, increased use of mobile and connected devices will drive demand for application software developers by 25.6 percent in the next 10 years. The increased need for cybersecurity will drive growth and demand for information security analysts by 31.6 percent.

• Repair Industry - Repairs don’t just disappear because of the economic downturn. Even amidst a global crisis, the government still permits many repair shops to remain open because they are essential businesses.

Prepare for the worst.

As much as we hate to say it, preparing for the worst will help your job search if your company gets caught up in the economic downtown. The saying, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail,” is very relatable in this instance. Although it may seem almost paradoxical to prepare for the worst as you work towards recession-proofing your career, it’s an important step. Here are a few ways you can prepare for the worst:

• Update your resume - Add your latest and most relevant skills to your resume that demonstrate your true worth to a potential employer. Take your resume to the next level by making sure it can successfully pass through an ATS and into the hiring manager’s inbox.

• Leverage your network -  We mentioned it above but we’ll say it again, your network can be a very powerful tool. Not only can it help you keep your job, it can just as much help  you find a new one.

• Don’t panic - There’s no time like the present. You already know what you need to be doing and we’re just helping you along the way. Everything will be okay as long as you prepare!

If you’re ready to start working towards a career that will be protected during a recession, apply to any of our open positions on CyberCoders.com.