Recession-Proof Your Job
I was over at Ramit’s site today and read Charlie Hoehn’s new 30-page e-book on recession-proofing your job. Great, great stuff. I won’t spoil it for everyone, but he’s got some great thoughts on how to go about protecting yourself during these tough times. Not only that, it’s really a primer on how to get a new job these days.
I’ve written in the past about changing careers without quitting your job, and these same ideas definitely apply. I was doing a lot of this stuff during my advertising job-search a while back.
I think the biggest thing I would echo is the importance of starting a blog. Just do it already. Whether you don’t want to change jobs or want a new job in an unrelated field—it’s going to show initiative and it’s going to give you experience. If done right, it’s going to make you look good too.
Anyway, enough about me. Here is Charlie Hoehn’s fantastic e-book. Make sure to check out his site, too. Great stuff over there.
July 17th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
I think the blog idea is a good one. However, if you are planning to change careers, how would you suggest preventing your current employer from “Googling” your name and uncovering your blog on a totally unrelated industry or future career transition? An anonymous name would work, but then this would also limit your ability to “sell” yourself.
So other than writing about interests/hobbies (which would seem counterproductive from a career-enhancement perspective), what would your advice be?
July 19th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
Aron: Well, there’s always the beauty of anonymity. I don’t think it limits the ability to which you sell yourself. If anything, it keeps you in check. Instead of bitching and complaining about things you should probably keep to yourself, it keeps you on point and it keeps you smart.
THat’s been my experience anyway. If you have a horrible experience at a job, how can you turn that into a positive? I’m guessing a potential employer would find hat extremely valuable. And I wouldn’t write about hobbies/interests in my blog, I’d write about something that you can actually leverage later on.
Take this blog, for example, it’s about personal finance and investing. A little bit of writing. But it’s about useful, interesting (hopefully) topics.
That’s valuable. Why I am a huge Cubs fan? No one cares about that.
July 23rd, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Thanks for the reply. I’ve been slowly talking myself into starting a blog all year, now it’s just a matter of taking the leap.
You were able to parlay your blog into a new career as a writer. I’m transitioning to the actuarial field (finally passed the first exam – whoohoo!). Would I mention the blog on a resume/cover letter, or use it primarily as a networking tool?
July 27th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
I would just use it to show how you think about the different current topics in your industry. Or to show how you would solve current problems or dilemmas in your industry. Say you’re in the auto industry or just a manager somewhere. You could blog about how you would deal with the auto industry’s collapse. etc. Be creative. Figure out a way to show you think and how brilliant you are at whatever job you do. Make it happen.