Setting Yourself Up To Bounce Back
In March 2023, Silicon Valley Bank failed and was taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. After that, things came apart quickly, and the bank went from being worth multiple billions of dollars to 0 dollars in only a few days.
Looking back, there were definitely noticeable risks. But, the rapid $42 billion in deposit flight was probably what ultimately broke them.
What’s lost in all the complexity of resolving the situation is all the smart, good, and hardworking people whose jobs are at risk.
For most of them, they were going about their normal lives and doing their work until suddenly everything changed.
That, and other situations like it, prompted me to write today’s email about how to harden your career so you’ll be able to recover from this kind of situation.
Even though Silicon Valley Bank is the example today, plenty of companies go out of business. On top of that, many of us know people who’ve been fired as part of a restructuring. The bottom line is that there are lots of ways your employment can suddenly get pulled out from under you.
This is not about what to do if you get fired or your firm goes under; this is about what you can do in advance.
If you’re interested in some thoughts on what to do if you do get fired, then let me know since I’ve got some thoughts on that as well.
1) Don't Keep All Your Eggs In One Basket
This is one of the big lessons from back in 2008.
Sadly, we all heard about Lehman Brothers employees. They had worked at the firm for 20 years, had their savings in company stock, and lost it all when the firm went down.
It was heartbreaking, and it’s not the only story like that.
It wasn’t only the aggressive bankers who experienced this, but regular folks who worked in the back office or admin roles as well.
This is not financial advice, so consult your financial advisor about your personal situation. While you’re there, ask them if it’s a good idea to put the overwhelming amount of your net worth in one stock.
If you do, that means you rely on that company for both your ongoing cash flow (your paycheck) and your long-term wealth/savings.
2) Spend Less Than You Make
This is a tough one for people to hear.
You’ve worked hard to earn the money you make. You deserve some nice things.
I’ve witnessed many individuals whose expenditure escalates with every salary hike.
As a result, they’ve two big problems. First, they have no real savings to lean on when something goes wrong. Second, their fixed costs (such as fancy car leases, big mortgages on second homes) depend on that increased income.
If their job goes away for some reason, they encounter huge financial stress on top of having to find another job.
It also constrains the type of next job that they can get since they need to earn a minimum income to maintain their existing lifestyle.
Contrast that with a situation where you underspend your earnings.
You recognize that crazy things can and do happen, so you save up for a rainy day.
Your fixed costs are lower, and you’re in a far better position if you lose your job for some reason.
3) Make Yourself In-Demand
I use this term to define a crucial goal for knowledge workers. If you can make yourself In-Demand then you’ll have a much easier time bouncing back from a job loss regardless of the cause.
So what does it mean?
1) Be great at your job: Ask yourself what great looks like in your job and do that. It’s really no more complicated than that. Note that it doesn’t mean working 24/7 and dedicating your whole life to the job. “Great” usually means a fuller person than just one dimension. But, in the early days of some careers like I-Banking, consulting etc, you may have insane hours…that’s part of the gig.
2) Be seen as knowledgeable about your industry. Become known for that. Listen to industry podcasts. Then, write weekly summaries on LinkedIn of the most interesting ones.
If you ever find yourself out of work, a potential employer will see that you’ve been doing this for a while. It will almost always come up in interviews to your advantage.
If you want to add to this, create and post monthly book notes from relevant books to your industry.
You’ll come across like someone who really gets what’s going on in their industry and the de facto assumption will be that you’re good at your work.
This advantage enhances your professional skills, boosting your job performance.
3) Networking: You should be networking with peers in the industry, whether you’re job hunting or not.
In fact, it’s more important to do it when you aren’t looking. The other person won’t feel like you’re only connecting because you want something. I’d recommend making a list of industry peers. Then, strive to connect with them periodically. Maybe a couple of times a year.
Learn about their background, and learn about their firms.
Make it a goal to connect with one person each week for a coffee or lunch.
This way, hopefully, you’ll have friends and peers who want to help you out if something goes wrong with your employment.
These are just a few of the things that can help you become more In-Demand.
4) Helping Others
Truth is, I should have put this first on this list.
This is so important, both from a “doing the right thing” perspective and from a self-interest perspective.
You should be consciously trying to help people as much as possible.
Take those 15-minute chats with students who are trying to learn about the industry.
If you have too many people reaching out to you, you could make them virtual and go for two a week – you can probably find 30 minutes a week. Give them advice based on your experiences.
Whenever possible, connect candidates to people with hiring potential. Assisting others in times of need fosters a supportive community. And when you lend a hand, you create a network of reciprocity.
Aim to become someone who’s known to be super helpful to others in their careers, and it’ll pay you back many times over.
5) Always Be Learning
One of the most important ways to harden your career is to always be learning.
It might be learning more about the industry. You can do this by reading or listening to podcasts. Or, it could be learning to be better at the most vital software you use in your job.
Two crucial benefits emerge from steadily expanding your knowledge base.
1) You stay in the habit of learning new things. How many mid-level and senior people do you know who are afraid to learn a new software program? Either they’re too busy to embark on something that could take a lot of their time. But also they’re a bit afraid they won’t be able to do it.
2) You stay current on what’s going on, which makes you more marketable.
That’s it for today. I’d love to hear if I’ve missed any of your strategies for hardening your career.
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