Is your job in danger? Even in boom times, be ready for the ax to fall

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, Sept, 1998 by Melissa Mikesell

Even in boom times, be ready for the ax to fall.

A booming economy. Record-low unemployment. A blizzard of pink slips.

What's wrong with this picture? The fact is, even in the best of times hundreds of thousands of people lose their jobs through no fault of their own. Even if there is no economic downturn, one million jobs will be cut by the year 2000, says John Challenger, executive vice-president of the Chicago-based outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas. Mergers are an obvious impetus for cuts. But people lose or leave their jobs for a variety of other reasons:

* "Chainsaw" Al Dunlap, the corporate turnaround specialist with a penchant for massive job cuts, was himself fired--just after he had announced 5,100 layoffs at Sunbeam Corp. IBM, Kodak and others have also pared their payrolls lately, proving that downsizing and restructuring are still favorite plays in the corporate game plan.

* The success of many Silicon Valley software companies offers an attractive vision of start-up companies, but in reality start-ups fail more often than they succeed. In fact, 83,000 businesses failed in 1997, according to Dun & Bradstreet.

SELF-PRESERVATION. You might not get any advance warning, so don't be caught off guard. "Anyone who works for a living, unless he works for his father, should have an up-to-date resume and networking system," says Martin Elkort, author of Getting From Fired to Hired (Arco, $14.95). You want to be able to launch your job search soon after you get the bad news.

Dirk Cotterell, manager of Management Recruiters, in Salt Lake City, recommends keeping an up-to-date list of your achievements. "Anyone can paint a great picture of his or her responsibilities," he says. "The most significant thing you can show a recruiter is a truthful, detailed description of your accomplishments." You could lose your job tomorrow, he says, "but your career may be secure if you can point to how you have improved the company's bottom line."

Be receptive to headhunters who call, even if you're not looking for work at the time. "The best time to find a recruiter," Cotterell says, "is when you're not looking. Then, when the unexpected happens, you've already established a relationship." But don't buddy up to a bunch of recruiters. Pit more than three against each other and their chances of placing you--and their efforts to do so--will be diminished.