How to improve your resume in a recession

A recession is coming. 

Here are just a few headlines I read today. 

Recession fears rise amid middle class families
An earnings recession looms for first time in 3 years
Robust US market continues to expand amid recession jitters

With a recession, the first thing most people think of is massive layoffs.

In addition to the recession, you can’t throw a rock without hitting an article about automation being here and expanding… to the detriment of the who jobs the computers are now doing.

But is it really true?

Maybe. Maybe not. 

Part of my disbelief is actually based on the true story from the movie Hidden Figures. (Don’t judge me for making life decisions based on movies until you hear me out.) You should see the movie if you haven’t yet. 

It’s about a historic change at NASA for female mathematicians (especially Black ones), and a large part of the plot is about the notion of computers replacing humans. It reminds me so much of what I’m seeing in today’s world and the fears regarding robot process automation and artificial intelligence, just to name a couple.

The funny part is the movie is set in the 1960s, and in 2019, most computers you see still have people sitting in front of them. 

All that is to say every technological advance also creates new jobs. I’m telling you this because it’s related to the things I’m going to share to help in your effort to future proof your career. 

But there’s one important point I want to make first. 

Staying on top of your professional game should be a way of life, not a knee-jerk reaction to a looming recession or groundbreaking technology change…

And with that, here are three things you can do to help future proof your gainful employment:

• Learn about automation and what it really means
• Figure out how you can bring automation to the job
• Learn how to better market your current expertise
  • Invest in learning some new skills if you feel like you’re not as marketable as you want to be)
  • Invest in learning how to write a resume that highlights your most irresistible skills (a lot of times the delivery is the culprit, not the content)

Imagine being able to be less concerned about your job stability and knowing that even if you were part of a downsizing that you’d have the confidence to land quickly somewhere else.

More coming soon on how to make this more than a daydream.

Photo by Alex Knight on Unsplash