Is your sector struggling?
Are your competitors laying people off like it’s something that’s going out of fashion?
Was there little or no talk of bonuses this year?
Was your annual appraisal merely going through the motions?
Was your request for a pay-rise awkwardly dismissed?

Is everything a little on the secretive side in the office?
Is senior management living in the boardroom?
Is your usually cheery HR Director sweating blood?

If you’ve answered yes to some or even all of the above questions then in all seriousness you’re either very paranoid or their could be some small or even large scale redundancies on the cards.

There have certainly been no secrets about the number of dot.com workers that have been laid off over the past 12 months and we are all aware that the telecoms sector is taking something of a hammering at the moment. But it also goes without saying that it is very sensible (whatever level of seniority you are within your company) to monitor the press for developments not only for your own company but also the sector(s) that it operates in.

It is true to say that nobody is indispensable especially within a troubled economy, so please bear in mind that whatever your performance over the past 12 months, or even bearing in mind your whole history with your current company, nobody is safe from the looming threat of redundancy. After all if your companies staff have to be downsized then you must be prepared.

Preparation is the key here. There is absolutely no point in waiting for the chop, twiddling your thumbs when you get into work every morning; this will not help your cause. Remember that it is not all doom and gloom, there are a number of things that you can do to PREPARE.

Whether the rumours are true or not there are lots of things that you can do to help your cause:

Go for it!

This is a long shot, but if you make the conscious decision to go at it hammer and tongs and work yourself to the bone, then your colleagues may view your actions as something that could bring the company back from the depths.

There is certainly no harm in this if you view your departure as imminent then putting on a brave face and sweating for the cause will be noticed by your superiors and they might even consider to review your position and then view the role as essential in keeping the company’s head above water.

Even if keeping you on really isn’t an option then the chances are that you will be considered as a hard-worker, you’ll get a glistening reference. An extra bonus is that should some of your colleagues also be made to move on, they might recommend you to their organisations.

The flipside of this is that if you come in and put your feet up, then you’re sure to be one of the first out – your choice.

Don’t waste time! Make sure you’re up to date

No doubt there will be many new ‘strings’ that you have added to your ‘bow’ whilst you have been at your current position, and the chances are that you’ve not yet thought about those enough.

There’s little point moping around and the best thing that you can do at the ‘uncertain’ stage is to review your CV, and then tidy up how you plan to approach any interviews.

You will get left behind if you don’t give this the thought that it requires. You need to make your CV as up-to-date as you can and then get some outside judgement on what you have managed to put together.

There’s bound to be friends, colleagues (the more discreet ones), family or even professional CV services that will be able to add another perspective to what you have produced. (See: our articles on CV production)

• Writing the Killer CV
• How to tailor your CV to different industry sectors
• CV’s, all your questions answered
• Tailoring your CV for overseas job applications
• Targeting your CV for different positions
• CV cheating, is it wise to bend the truth

Interviewing skills are going to be crucial in the coming weeks/months and the chances are that a long time has passed before you had your last interview. (See: our articles on Interview preparation)

• Types of Interview and how to prepare
• Interview questions and answers
• Interviews and how to prepare
• 20 things not to do at Interview
• Getting your personality across at Interview
• Interviews, your questions answered

Use every means possible

You’re worried, you’ve still got your job but you know things will change, so when do you start looking? And how careful do you have to be?

These are natural feelings. It is no secret that it’s not a good thing to spend time looking for a new job whilst in the office during work hours, but at this stage you need to be at your most discreet. It is a very good idea to at least make a start. As well as using Jobsite there are a number of other ways that you can get ahead of the pack when redundancy is looming.

It is a good thing to let as many people as possible know that you might be in the job market soon. Friends and family can be key here as they can contribute to spreading the word, and hopefully the word will be positive.

Whilst all this is going on it is vital that you keep tabs on what is going on in your market, so that you are fully prepared should the bad news come your way.

Vitally important at this stage is to make sure that if you see a chance that you really can’t face not going for then…GO FOR IT! The chance might never come around again, and just imagine if you get left on the scrap heap and you didn’t take your chance.

Are there any more strings that you can add to your bow? Get tooled up!

As well as the skills that have developed during your time at your present job, now might be a good time to develop some more skills that could really add some more sparkle to your CV.

Now might also be an especially good time because you might have some extra money at hand. Night courses could be very worthwhile, not only to look good on paper but to also show that you aren’t sat sulking, but you are constantly willing to develop your skills in order to market yourself.

Not only that but you’ll be interacting with people who you can develop as contacts, and you might even be swayed towards entering a different employment sector to take up a new career.

Start saving money

If you get made redundant, you’ve managed to get the severance package that you feel you deserve, and you’ve been prepared for a while for the fateful day – then you should have enough money to keep you going for a while.

Naturally, if you have saved and therefore have money to fall back on then the redundancy will be far less distressing. This will leave you with more time to look for a new position and you will be far less likely to take the first job that you’re offered.

You must remain calm at all times

But I’m going to lose my job! The best thing you can do is to concentrate your energy into preparation. The weeks or months that you spend fretting over your situation can be dedicated towards putting things into perspective. If you spend time preparing then you are far more likely to be feeling less pressure and you will feel that you are contributing towards helping yourself find a happy and suitable outcome to the situation.

Remember that you are not being disloyal in your actions, you are taking care of everything that isn’t out of your hands.

Losing your job is not the end of the world, and it would be far more concerning if you weren’t worried and if you weren’t taking steps to resolve the situation.