Coming back from holiday to an uncertain economic climate, a key question in everyone’s minds is whether or not their jobs are secure…

• Do their bosses really value them?
  
• Have they got their fingers on the pulse in terms of their own industry sector and their own organisation’s ability to deal with any down-turn or recession?
  
• Are they helpless pawns with little or no control over their destiny?
  
• Will they have to compromise themselves in order to ensure that if cuts are made they survive?

Career management consultancy Drake Beam Morin, has developed these six critical questions – the career-building answers should help workers insulate themselves against an economic down turn.

What do you contribute?
Creating results is the most important career strategy of all…
Do you maintain high performance standards? Are you consistently a positive contributor?

If your job were open, would you get it?
Know your market value…
Quantify and qualify your accomplishments, both on the job and in your volunteer/civic activities. Are you familiar with salary ranges in your organisation, industry, region, and function?

What would you do if your job disappeared tomorrow?
Know your prospects…
Do you understand your industry’s trends? Are you a member of any professional organisations? Do you read business and trade journals or attend conferences? Have you developed a network and established a strong relationship with senior managers?

Are you learning?
Expand your skill base…
Do you take advantage of the training offered by your organisation, industry, and professional groups? Do you ask to be assigned new projects so that you develop new competencies? Do you have your own career coach?

Do the key players in your organisation know who you are and what you contribute?
Maintain positive visibility…
Do you keep track of and articulate your accomplishments?

Do you know where you’re going and how to get there?
Have a career plan to give you greater control over your future…
Do you to capitalise on opportunities the changing world of work offers? Do you control your own destiny?

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DBM publishes regular research, the most recent being:

• The Age Study: Career Choices and Challenges of Younger and Older Workers
  (To be launched shortly)
  
• The Family Study: The Impact of Redundancy on Family, Finances and Health
  (Launched June 2001)
  
• The Executive Job Search: Tracks the experience of nearly 19,000 executives worldwide, who participated in DBM’s career transition programmes in 2000.
  (Statistics available upon request)