In Sales? But What If You Lost Your Job Tomorrow - How To Prepare For the Unthinkable

By Chris Beaumont

Jobs Vacancy, Job vacancies, Employment Jobs

Preparing for The Unthinkable. If You Lost Your Job Today - Are You Ready For It?

Pick up a newspaper and read the business section, watch the business news on TV, or read any of the thousands of business blogs out there on the www and they are all saying the same thing - in North America and Europe the economy is in for a roller-coaster of a ride for the next few years!

Does this worry me? Well yes it does a bit, but only a bit, and if I am honest then it's that I'm concerned for some of my friends and family.

Personally I accept that change is part of life - be it private life or in my career and that's fine. Reason is - I always try to be prepared. And when it comes to my career that means that I am ready to move if, just in case the unimaginable ever happened and I lose my job - and I have done in the past. And in Sales we can often be at the sharp end of events - often the first to be let go.

The point is, even if you are feeling secure in your job and not looking for another job right now, that might all change. And when / if that happens, chances are it will come hard and fast. So... be prepared!

Here are a couple of simple steps that you might want to consider taking:

1.Maintain a 'current' set of business contacts (read network contacts). Don't keep this at work either, keep it at home. If you get fired and your employer walks you out the door, do you really expect them to give you chance to copy your contact list that's on your work computer?

2.Same goes for your business cards that you may not have copied to your Outlook contacts list.

3.There a several professional social networking sites. If you are a member of any (and you should be!) then make sure that your profile is current and be active in 'building your professional network'. FYI - the big professional one is LinkedIn, which you should join if you have not already.

4.Prepare a hit list of career prospects that you can approach regarding employment opportunities. This is going to be two list - firstly a list of potential employers that you can approach; then the next list is going to be 3rd party contacts - recruitment agencies / job websites / headhunters.

5.Ensure that your sales resume is both current and very comprehensive. This is your 'generic' sales resume that you'll then tweak, pare-down and refocus to each job that you subsequently apply for. Not sure how to do this? - Then check this out when you get chance.

Finally, don't worry!

Ok that's easy to say and difficult to do. The point is that change is often good, since it opens up new opportunities. Many people once they move on, never look back! Just make sure that you are ready to move, ok! Just in case.