Are You Unfirable?

Last week I asked are you employable? But if you have a job already, you already know the answer to that question.

But if you’re employed, in this economy, you can’t rest on your laurels. Ask yourself — are you “unfirable?” (I know, it’s not a real word.)

There are things you can do to lower the chance that, when your firm lets people go, you’ll be leading the procession:

Save the company money. If you can think of a way to save money, don’t keep it to yourself. Suggest it. Even if it’s just a one-time savings, your employers will remember the favor — and they may count the savings toward the cost of your salary.

Be irreplaceable. The easiest way to do this is to be great at your job. Also, having an irreplaceable skill set helps — this is easy for IT people, who can set up a computer network that only they will understand, guaranteeing permanent job security. But if you’re the only person at the company who understands the filing system, or who knows all the vendors, or who knows how to put the orders into the computer, then your job is just a bit safer.

Be a member of the family. This won’t save you if the firm absolutely has to cut jobs, but it can only help. Befriend your co-workers. Be pleasant and sociable with your bosses, even the difficult ones. Pitch in for birthday and wedding gifts. Go to Happy Hour every once in a while. You will (1) make new friends, possibly lifelong ones; (2) develop contacts that can help your career in the future, (3) make your workplace function better, and your job more enjoyable; and (4) make it that much harder to lay you off when the time comes.

Be reliable. This can be very hard — after all, there are genuinely unreliable people, but they never last long at any company. What’s hard is when a reliable person encounters unavoidable personal issues — family, health, economic — that while perfectly sympathetic and understandable, still mean you’re the one who is late to work, or leaves early, or misses days, or can’t work beyond normal hours. And when it comes time to lay people off, that’s what employers remember.

So what can you do if life interferes with your job? I don’t know. In this economy, if the life issues are relatively minor — school issues for your kids, marital problems, general economic stresses — then do everything in your power to insulate your work from these, even if it upsets your family.

If the issues are major — divorce, a death, a long-term illness — then maybe there is nothing you can do, except face the fact that your job is in danger and do whatever you can to prepare for that.

Have an affair with the boss. Just kidding. Seriously, that’s a bad idea.

Know of other ways to become “unfirable?” Let us know in the comments!

Tags: how to keep a job, job advice, reliability, unfirable

The First Day on the Job

Congratulations to President Barack Obama!

By his own schedule and design, today is his first day of hard work – although it could legitimately be said that he’s been at it since the election. And whether you’re a Republican, Democrat, Republicrat, Reagan Democrat, NeoCon, Green Party member or ragingly apathetic, it is difficult not to feel SOMETHING for his constructively aggressive attitude and confidence. What kind of job will President Obama do, and why should you care? Well, we hired him, and he took the gig. Now, what should the average schmuck like you and me be watching for and learning from Obama about going into a new job?

Here are some employee basics that apply as much to a fish feeder at Sea World as to the new Leader of the Free World:

Communications: Tout your strengths, deftly acknowledge your weaknesses but tell anyone who’ll listen why you’re right for the job.

TeamBuilding: Assemble, coordinate, congregate and delegate with those who most compliment you and fill-in-the-blanks that may not be your strongest suits. (There is no “I” in “teamwork,” but there are a couple of them in “idiot.” Don’t be one of those!)

ConsensusBuilding: Work with those you may disagree with or who may not immediately see your way. Acknowledge that there’s a job to be done and a united effort is required.

Document your Progress: OK, so the President has a press corps doing that, but you’ll need to keep your own data for future reviews, future career moves and, well, the future.

Remember, that tired old adage about first impressions is pretty true. Start strong! And if you’re doing something that sucks or is sucking the life out of you, start over. There are plenty of jobs here. The may not put you in the White House, but doing something you like to do and were meant to do may keep you out of the nuthouse. Your call.

Tags: Add new tag, Advice, Employment, First day at a new job, how to get a job, how to keep a job, how to succeed, Jobs, Leader of the Free World, obama, President, teamwork