Your Job is Not Recession Proof

Hey, good news--No job is safe.

Google "Recession Proof Career" and you'll get tons of websites that will give you: 8, 10 or 7 ways to protect your job, standout at work, develop your skills, use social networking, etc. Much of it is great advice, but the truth is that no one is immune to the economy.

So why is this something to cheer about? Because it means this is your chance to play around with a variety of jobs. To make it now you've got to start thinking outside the job and DIVERSIFY your career. The new career model won't leave you stuck in a cubicle.

Isn't everyone always droning about how they hate getting up in the morning to do the same old thing? Go to the same old job? See the same old people?

Well if you haven't been forced out of the rut by layoffs and closures, the best way to recession proof your career is to mix it up. Now is your chance to enrich your life and start bringing in income by playing around with different things.

Some ideas for additional income sources:

• Open an eBay shop


• Start consulting


• write a blog
  
• sell your crafts


• get a second job that doesn't consume your brain


• launch your own business (this might seem crazy, but if you don't need a lot of start up money this is a good time to play around with your business model)

The key is to think of your income source as you would an investment portfolio. Put all your prospects into one investment (your job) and if it goes under you are screwed. But if you diversify by having several income sources, you've always got something that will bring in cash.

Does taking on more work make you tired just thinking about it? Look at your life. What do you do when you come home? Can you squeeze in a few extra hours? Stop surfing the web and open your online job.

Through diversification you'll add more depth and excitement to your life. Remember those old 60s tv shows. The dad went to work, the same job everyday. Didn't you feel sorry for him?

Long gone are the days when you worked for one company and retired with a comfortable pension. And gone are the days when your 401(k) was your ticket to a charmed retirement. Even early retirement buyout deals are in the past. Now even offering health insurance is a burden for many companies.

Sure some industries will fare better than others, but for most there is too much that is out of your control. If you are in sales you might be working extra hard, but if your buyers aren't able to make it work on their end it will effect you. If you work for a large company you can't do much about benefit cuts.

Jump in to new opportunities, but as always be cautious about get rich scams and anything that requires you to dump money into it.