Preparing for trouble

STRATEGIES: When companies fail, it rarely comes as a complete surprise. Usually, employees can tell if their employer is in financial trouble. So if you sense that your company may be about to go out of business or to let staff go, trust your instincts and get ready to find another job.

Start by updating your CV. Don’t wait for a layoff to do this, says New York City executive career coach Beth Ross. If your CV is ready, you can send it out immediately.

And don’t wait until you are unemployed to start networking, advises Business Spotlight careers columnist Marty Nemko. “Employers assume that people with a job are generally of higher quality than unemployed people,” Nemko told The Wall Street Journal. Contact as many people as possible to let them know you are looking for a new position.

"Employers think people with jobs are of higher quality than unemployed people," says career coach Marty Nemko.

It’s also a good idea to develop what Nemko calls a “transition strategy”. Study your industry and others to see where growth is taking place. Be ready to retrain for jobs in other fields.

Getting professional advice could be a good investment. According to a study by human resources firm Lee Hecht Harrison, people who hire career coaches find jobs 15 to 46 per cent faster than those who search on their own.

Meanwhile, if your company is laying off staff but staying in business, Beth Ross suggests that you should consider staying. Think about what you can do to improve the company’s financial situation. “Try to operate with the same mentality as before,” Ross says. “If you act like everything is going to change for the worse, it will, and it’s going to affect productivity.”

Marty Nemko’s career advice appears in his regular column, “The Job Doctor”, in Business Spotlight.