How To Increase Your Value In A Down Economy

As the economy continues to lag, it is more important than ever for individuals who are still working to keep their skills current and focus on improving their businesses. Since businesses are still making very tough downsizing decisions, you would want to be sure that you have made every effort to be a “keeper” for the job. Here are a few suggestions that I believe will not only increase your value to the company but to yourself as well:
• Dependability
Are you one who is frequently absent from work, or is punctuality an issue? Does the boss frequently need to have conversations with you regarding you not being at your workstation? If your answer to either question is yes, then you must recommit yourself to your job. Now more than ever, businesses are looking for those individuals who come to work each day, on time, ready to get the job done. It is you who wants to be known as the one that is reliable and can be counted upon to get the job done on a daily basis. A business makes every effort to keep those employees that they can depend on.
• Flexibility
Do you have experience in more than one position with the company or have you been doing the job your whole career? If your current position is eliminated do you have the skill set and experience to be able to do another job with your company? Do you have the ability to be cross-trained? In today’s work environment, those individuals who only have one skill set are the most vulnerable to downsizing as their skill may become obsolete, or the position is no longer needed and there is no other position that they can fill. Gaining experience in multiple positions not only makes you flexible; it may also improve your chances for promotion. Learning new functions and gaining new skills makes it more difficult for the business to downsize you.


• Education & Training
How current is your skill set? When was the last time you took a course or went to a seminar to improve your current skills or to gain new knowledge? Be aware that in times likes these, one of the first budget items to be cut is training. Yet, it is also times like these that we may have to make the sacrifice to pay for education or seminars ourselves if the business will not in order to improve one’s abilities. Remember “learning never stops” and it is critical for each individual to push himself or herself to keep their skills current. Reading business journals, The Wall Street Journal or the business section of your local newspaper will also give you insight in today’s business climate.
Dependability, flexibility, keeping current on skill sets or learning new skills will not only make us more valuable to our current businesses, but will also make you a hot commodity for the future.

Should Bad Credit Keep You from Getting Hired

Though many of our businesses have long examined the credit histories of job applicants along with resumes for our job openings, I would submit that in today’s highly-stressed economy that we should NOT use any credit history in making hiring decisions. Currently 1 out of 10 workers are unemployed with most being out of work at least six months or more. Many do not have the means to pay creditors.
Nationwide unemployment is currently is more than 9% and projected to reach double digits before the end of 2009; many qualified workers will lose out on employment opportunities if credit checks play a significant role in the hiring decision process.
While I support exceptions being granted for those positions that involve money or require National Security clearances, since we also know that 33% of all credit reports contain serious errors that could also penalize potential employees, it is all the more reason that we should suspend this practice at least until the National economy stabilizes.
Currently, Congress is taking a look at blocking employer access to most credit report data, though there is no current timeline as to when a bill may be passed. We should take the first step at our businesses to stop this process and give the unemployed worker one less thing to worry about.