How to Prepare for a Recession

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5 years ago

You’re getting a wee bit scared. Jobs reports, stock market trends. You are wondering if the economy is heading into a recession (or global depression?). You’re no economist (or, actually, maybe you are since you’re Type A), but you are looking at what is going on and wondering about the future. You are wondering if you need to be worried about your job?! It begs the question: how to prepare for a recession?!

I’ve unfortunately survived two major recessions during my career: 2001 (yes, I’m that old, but you probably knew that already) and 2007. I learned a lot during both of those times and, in retrospect, I think there are things I should have done to prepare myself. I ended up being fine through both but the worry about losing one’s job is tough to endure for long periods of time.

So, what should you do?

How to Prepare for a Recession

1. Ensure you are well-positioned in your current company

Deliver in current role

Ok, ok this one goes without saying but I couldn’t not mention it 🙂

Volunteer for new assignments

If your company needs to downsize, then you’re going to want to be as indispensable as possible. I’ve managed a department through a few different of these downsizing initiatives, each for a different reason. Each time we used a different approach to determining who got laid off. In every case, the people who had solid, broad skills fared well because they could fit in a variety of ways into the new structure.

Also, if possible, get assigned to something critical so that your company won’t be able to lose you. Even if you do get let go, you could negotiate a longer timeline for termination in order to deliver critical projects.

Carefully ensure awareness of your contributions

If your company is going through layoffs, it’ll be important for your leadership to understand all the contributions you are making and the skills that you have. As I mentioned above, they are probably going to assess the talents of all of the employees and do some type of ranking. My experience is that leaders take painstaking responsibility to do right by their employees in these assessments. However, they may not always know all the key information. So, you need to make them aware.

However, you need to be careful about doing so. You don’t want to look reactionary. Or, worse, like you’re spending more time on promoting yourself at the expense of doing your job. I suggest giving really great summaries of your work contributions and infusing subtle hints as to skills / experiences you have during networking 1:1s (see below) would be sufficient.

Network within your current company

Reach out to key contacts at your current company to understand if they may have positions available (or coming available). Perhaps just the sales team is downsizing but training is growing. Cast a wide net to see what opportunities are out there!

Be on your best behavior (i.e., don’t do anything inappropriate)

Don’t make it easy for your leaders to let you go by violating policies or drinking too much at a company event. Be on your best behavior during this time (or anytime, really, but especially now).

2. Prepare for a job search

Update your resume

Even though you aren’t sure whether you will get cut, I suggest you update your resume. Do it while you are not stressed about needing to find another job, and in the midst of a busy job search. Also, it’ll help you feel like you can actually DO something about the situation and, so, it may make you feel better.

See here for my Create a Stand Out Resume e-course.

Look at open job descriptions on company websites or websites like monster.com

Even though you aren’t sure you are looking for a job yet, it can help to know what is out there. If nothing else, it can give you the awareness that there are interesting jobs out there and, as a result, you may worry less about losing the job you have.

Attend industry networking events

Get out and meet people who may be able to hire you in the event that you are laid off! Reconnect with old colleagues who are at different companies. Meet new people at relevant employers. Many companies thrive during a recession and, so, it may be helpful to cast a wide net to see what is out there.

3. Ready your finances

Cut down on expenses

If you think you may be losing your job, it’s wise to start reducing your overhead. You can think about reducing entertainment expenses (i.e., Netflix, etc), vacations, and discretionary items like fancy clothes and shoes. It’s probably not worth making drastic cuts but even just a little bit will go a long way to making you feel more secure while you learn more about your future employment. For ideas, see this post.

Consider a side hustle

A good way to safeguard against a job loss is to have additional sources of income. There are many side hustles for which you could make decent money. Things like selling used items on eBay, being a virtual assistant, even blogging (though I admit…I’ve learned that blogging is a LOT of time and practically no money but you may be better at it than I am!).

Hopefully, you have nothing to worry about…perhaps these recession fears will go away. And, if not, you’re a rock star and don’t need to worry; you’ll land on your feet somehow. That said, even if that is true, you’ll benefit from taking a few key steps to prepare for a recession. You will feel better knowing you’re doing something….you’re Type A…you can’t just sit back and wait! So, imagine how calm you will be regardless of what may be going on if you take a few steps to prepare!