Think you don’t need a current resume?
Don’t be surprised by a change in your job status. It’s smart to watch the market all the time, even if you feel safe. Sign up for search engines to send a weekly email with local jobs in your field. Keep in touch with people in your network and make new contacts.
If you don’t want to make a move, at least be prepared. It’s even smarter in the tight economy, because it takes much less change in the economy to tip a company the wrong way.
Here are three key tips:
1. Have a savings account. If that’s not possible, have a list of what you could sell quickly and easily if the worst happened.
2. Know your local resources. I’m not just talking about employers. Where are the church food banks? Clothing help for the kids for school clothes? Is there a pet food bank for dog food? Assess your needs and find the resources now. You won’t have weeks or months to search them out if you need them, and you don’t want those needs to interfere with a job search for you or your spouse.
3. Set up job searches online now. Try different services and find out which ones pull the most job in your field. Experiment. You can turn them off, or limit the updates once you find the best of the best. But, best of all, you won’t waste time going through all that when your next meal depends on finding a new employer. In the process, you may find the perfect job too.
Good luck.