First and foremost, earn your keep, make sure you are as productive as possible in your current job. And, along with that, maintain a positive attitude, stay as upbeat and optimistic as possible so that people are drawn to you. However, specific tactics include:
- Develop a list of accomplishments so that you can be in command of your contribution. These should be impact or results focused, not activity statements.
- Think through your transferable skills evident in those accomplishments and where else in the organization they are needed or could be used. Volunteer to pick up additional responsibilities in your area without necessarily getting paid more (at the moment). This helps your department and could add value to your portfolio of skills and experience.
- Help others: work laterally across the organization, volunteer for projects or assignments important to other areas as well as your own. Hard wire yourself in the organization. This allows you to also…
- Build and sustain your professional network, internally and externally.
- Keep your skills and knowledge current…read up on the latest in your field, and related ones, try applying knowledge or practices from other fields to your own.
- Likewise, understand your drawbacks, be willing to face up to them and take actions to overcome or compensate for them. You might seek a mentor who can help in this area. Having mentors is also a pretty good “recession-proofing” strategy.
- Proactively look for ways to save the company money (or increase revenues)…Put the needs of the organization first.
- Sharpen your career tools:
- Keep your resume up-to-date and results-focused
- Have a well crafted 2 minute drill and 30 second commercial
List of target “employers” even if internal (what might be the next lily pad)