Dodging the Pink Slip with No Guarantees

Would you like to avoid the pick slip? There are many ways in which you can establish job security, even though you might not like your present job. In tough economic times who can be choosy?

The first thing you can do is to immediately adopt an attitude of excellence. Take pride in your work and gain as much knowledge about your job as possible. It doesn't matter if you have been there ten years or more. There is always something new to learn. The pursuit of excellence runs deep. Seek continuous improvement and ask for feedback. The boss will be impressed with your eagerness to learn and master the job. Remember knowledge applied means power. It puts you ahead of your competitors and enables you to go the extra mile. Employers will be looking for those who stand out and take a sense of ownership for the company.

The next thing you can do on your job is to maximize your social ability. Show concern for the well being of your fellow coworkers. Remember everyone is in the same boat and you never know when you might need a reference or two. Establish as many friendships as possible and make yourself known to strangers on the job. By strangers I mean those coworkers that you never took the time to get to know. The more people you get to know the greater the opportunity for networking if your company shuts down. Remember, as hard as we may try to survive, no one really knows what the tomorrow might take away. The more people you know when it comes to job hunting the better your chances of finding one. Sometimes word of mouth is an effective method job searching when opportunities are hard to find. Many people get hired at companies simply because they know someone working there.

Another thing you can do is to be more creative. Try to come up with new ideas. For example, maybe you can find a better way to deliver customer products or maybe you can create a knock out sells pitch that snatches the customer's attention right away. Organizations will try hard to keep those who take the initiative and add profit to the organization. This attitude also tells your employers that you are willing to do everything possible to help the company survive hard times. When thousands of people are steadily losing there jobs, the creative employee is an indispensable gift to any organization.

Lastly, life is uncertain. Sometimes no matter how hard we try our best is not good enough. We fail, either by our own hands or by circumstances beyond our control. So before our world comes a tumbling down we need to take precautionary measures in our spending. Good money management means having something to fall back on if your slip turns pink. Our savings should be able to provide us with the bare necessities of life: food, clothing, and shelter. It is never a good idea to live from pay check to pay check. Just putting away $10.00 dollars a week is making good progress towards a rainy day dilemma.

Excellence, friendship, and creativity will help you stand out in the crowd on your job. Still there are no guarantees, but the practices of these three values will give you the greatest chance of dodging the pink slip.