Needle, Meet Haystack

This week’s question might seem a little negative, and the response might seem a bit harsh and have an overly realist tone, so if you’re a fan of sunshine, rainbows and puppies, I suggest heading over to the archives.

Dear Andrew,

I’ve read your blog a few times, but since I’m already employed, I don’t see much point in going to a job search site, especially while I have a career.  What would be a reason for me to keep reading it?

The answer to your question is pretty simple: because there is no job that you can’t lose, and it never hurts to be prepared.

I’m not speaking of the unsure statistics regarding career changes during a person’s lifetime or projections about job retention, but rather the degree of expendability that exists within anyone’s career.  You may feel secure in your job (even a tenured position), but that doesn’t mean that at some point you won’t want a change of location or responsibilities.

As I’ve mentioned before, people don’t need to stick with one particular job.  As much as you might enjoy your work as, say, a teacher, and might want to stick with it for a long time, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you will (just ask most of the teachers in Washington DC).  Whether it be budget cuts, personal performance, office politics, work environment, client opinions or any other number of reasons, you might lose your job.  And there are just as many (if not more) reasons why you might leave.

There are stories that come out all the time about people who are successful in one field leaving suddenly to pursue something else (and not just former child actors).  However you might feel about your job today, you might feel differently tomorrow.  And diving in headfirst to the job market unprepared is one of the worst things that you can do.

Even if you don’t plan on going anywhere, it’s not a bad idea to have an updated resume handy, a good idea of who you can use as references or referrals, and an idea of a backup plan.  This blog is here to help with every step of the job search process, whether you’re just looking around to see if the grass is greener or if you’re looking full-time.

Or maybe you can just read it for the articles.