In these difficult times it's natural for people to worry that
their jobs might be at risk, writes Jeremy I'Anson, director at
HR consultancy xlSys Consulting.
If you are working in the City or the
financial services sector you may feel it is almost inevitable
that your employer
will be making cutbacks. One senior IT recruiter, who did not
want to be named, commented, "Although the City is the worst
affected, recruitment across all sectors is well down on this time
last year."
So what can you do to ensure that your name doesn't finish up on
a list of employees marked for redundancy?
If you work in IT services or for one of the big consultancies
then the first thing to look at is your utilisation - the number of
days that you are fee earning for your company. You probably can't
control this directly, but if you often find yourself "on the
bench" then think carefully about how this might be viewed by your
managers.
Equally, if you are working in a company IT department and find
that your projects are being cancelled or cut back, then your job
could well be under threat. How does the future look for your
company? Have you just won (or lost) a major project? Most
importantly, how do you think your manager views your contribution
to the business?
If you conclude that your job could be at risk then you have a
number of options. You could simply sharpen up your CV and place it
on some of the IT job boards or you could start looking for
another, more secure job immediately. Depending on your personal
circumstances, you might also consider working abroad. Remember
that despite the economic downturn here in the UK,
in other parts of the world (ie, the Middle East) business is
booming, with any number of great opportunities available in
IT.
If you prefer to stay with your current employer then my advice
would be to "make yourself useful". Use any downtime that you have
to learn a new skill. Analyse your own skill set. Are there any
areas that could be improved? You could use any spare time to
upgrade your IT skills, get that Prince 2 Practitioner
Certification or maybe attend a Presentation Skills Course
(remember, strong communication skills are the passport to more
senior positions in IT).
If you are confident that your skills are already up to scratch,
then consider passing on your experience to your less experienced
colleagues. How about setting up informal lunch time workshops? Got
a better way to run a project or deal with a problem? Pass it
on.
In the modern work environment success is as much about team
contribution as individual skills and effort.
Demonstrating you have the ability to help your company develop
and respond to new challenges will give you the edge over your
peers in difficult times as well as the good.
So the message is clear: if you want to hang onto your job, go
that extra mile and make yourself indispensable.