Federal Reserve & Interest Rates

Job security is not as strong as it used to be. With several industries making cuts, and reports showing 63,000 job losses in February, it is time to reevaluate the long-term potential of your current career. Here are some tips to help you maintain an income, and build yourself up as a desirable candidate.

Make yourself more noticeable. If you are not standing out at your company, now is the time to brighten your image. Make an effort to go above and beyond the job description, and show that you are valuable to the company. Come early, be more productive, and make suggestions. Show that you care about the company’s success, and are willing to work hard to see the company succeed.

Brainstorm ways to improve the operation of business, increase profits, or cut costs. If you can directly affect the finances of the company, you will be noticed, and your employer will want to keep you around longer. Make sure that your ideas are well thought out, and present them to the right people. Be weary of sharing these ideas with colleagues, even friendly ones, because they might “coincidently” present the same idea to management before you.

Improve your abilities. Perfect your job skills in whatever way that you can. If you are already an expert at what you do, start learning how to be an expert in another area of interest. For example, if you are a great writer, learn marketing skills. If you are a computer technician, learn a new operating system or programming language. You can take courses, internships, workshops, seminars, or do some independent study online. Whatever you do, make yourself more qualified, more experienced, and more desirable to employers.

Create multiple streams of income. If you have trade skills that you don’t use on your job, start using them elsewhere. You can start a part-time freelance business online, and market your skills. Build a reputation online as a specialist in whatever your trade is, and network as much as possible. Even if you earn a small amount of money, if you are by chance laid-off, you will at least have some income. You can also consider a simple part-time job on some nights and weekends.

Whatever you do, don’t slack off, don’t voice unnecessary complaints, and don’t ignore the industry. Keep yourself appealing, and educated on where the jobs are.