Insight

"Greed is good!" is a memorable quote in the 1987 movie Wall Street. The film has come to be seen as the most archetypal portrayal of Wall Street.  Sadly, greed is too powerful a vice. It led to the downfall of Bear Stearns in early 2008 and then Lehman Brothers in September 15, 2008. Lehman's collapse triggered off the biggest ever Global Economic Meltdown. Credit markets dried up overnight and multiple trillion dollars worth of investment just vaporized as a matter of weeks. 

In spite of the massive scale of global bailout, we are still expecting the global economy to slow down significantly and to be accompanied with wave of frozen headcounts, retrenchments, defaults, forced selling and bankruptcies.   

Getting back to the basics may be the best strategy for us to stay afloat during the economic downturn.

(A)    Plan your Career

During hard times, only the best candidate with the most outstanding track record and the most relevant experience will get the good job offers. Others will have to wait.

In general, people don't spend much time planning about their career. Most of the time, they are forced to plan their career when an uncontrollable event takes place e.g. when they are being retrenched.  My professional observation is, some really smart and successful candidates spend a lot of time in career planning and have mulled over their promotion plan and exit strategy even before they start work.

To most Singaporeans, vacation is one of the most important priorities in life. People spend significant amount of time in research and planning to ensure a memorable trip with minimal amount of hiccups. A person I know actually spent the last couple of weeks on the research and planning for his mere three week trip to Europe. If we think that our career is more important than our vacation, then it really is worth our effort to spend more time in career planning. This will help ensure a more successful career with lesser hiccups along the way.

(B) Sharpen your Tools

After we have done our research and made up our minds on what our career plan is, the next stage is to sharpen our tools. This is the career preparation stage where we are laying the foundation that our career is built upon. This is the stage where we have to build up our skill (be it academic qualification, professional qualification or hands-on experience) before we can take on the challenge of the career path that we have planned and chosen.   

If you have lost your job recently and have difficulty finding an ideal job immediately, you could take this unique opportunity to upgrade your skill and sharpen your tools. It is a big mistake if you find yourself not ready when the best opportunity arrives.

On the other hand, the more proactive candidates having done a proper career plans know what is lacking in their CV. They will then use their spare time wisely to perhaps earn a higher degree; attend some skill-specific training courses; acquire a professional membership such as CFA, ACCA...etc

Recently, I bumped into a long lost friend. Fifteen years ago, he was already a very good Manufacturing Software Presales person and his highest education was just a polytechnic diploma.  But now, he has a Bachelor's Degree; an MBA and an Australian Accountant qualification. No wonder he is an excellent Supply Chain Management Software Sales person now. His customers and prospects find him a trusted advisor rather than a mere sales person because of his solid hands-on solution experience in the Manufacturing Industry and his professional knowhow in Accounting and Finance.

(C)    Live a Prudent Life

A prudent life with ample savings and minimum debt offers us much flexibility in life. When the market crashes, those who have cash are kings. Financial freedom significantly helps people to make better career change decision as they have the flexibility to wait for the best position at the right price and right timing. Just the contrary, when a person is desperate, many a time, he or she will make a wrong decision out of haste.

Let me use a negative example to illustrate this point. Assuming that there is yuppie investment banker, whose name is Ah Beng and he is a high flying investment bank executive who is just over 30. He is living a lifestyle as if he is the MD of the firm and is wearing branded goods from head to toe. At the peak of the market, he acquired a very posh racing car and a luxurious condominium all via bank loan. Very unfortunately, the market crashed shortly afterwards. At that point of time, will he not shiver if he receives a pink notice from his Human Resource Manager? It may be a little bit too late for him to realize that a debt-ridden life is highly risky. Figuratively speaking, he has become a "slave" to his debt. He is desperate and would grab any job available in the market as he needs the money to finance his loan.

(D)     Increase your Visibility

By and large, writing and public speaking are good ways to demonstrate your expertise in your field. For instance, I am writing for Resource Dynamics' Newsletter on a periodic basis. Along the way, I have received many encouraging phone calls or emails after people have read my articles. It increases my visibility and helps to demonstrate my expertise in the area of Executive Search and Career Counseling.

Even if you don't have the above opportunities, you can participate in alumni, volunteer and charity work. On the one hand, you feel good when you are doing good work for the community and meeting old friends. On the other hand, the organization that you help out might provide you with connections and social networks that could benefit you for life.

Call your friends working in Executive Search, who knows, there may be a golden opportunity waiting for you somewhere. All you need is just one matching job only.

Seek more exposure and it will pay off one day.  

(E) Stay Healthy

Do not worry so much when you have lost your job. Even if we worry a lot, it won't help a bit. All we can get from worry is some unwanted white hair and insomnia. These are but the symptoms of the cry of our suffering organs. Too much stress can cost us our health.  

Stay healthy because only the fittest bird can wake up early enough to catch the fattest and juiciest worm. More so, we have to stay healthy to work day in and day out until we are at least 60s given the high cost of living.

Hope you find these strategies useful. If so, don't forget to allocate your spare time wisely so that you can diligently apply these strategies through out your career.