4 Lessons Employees Should Have Learned During the Resession

According to Wikipedia, The Great Recession started in December 2007 and officially came to an end June 2009. If you take a deeper look at some of the historical data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov), unemployment in December of 2006 was 4.4%, and by the end of 2009 this number had reached a high of 9.9%. Since December 2009, this number has continued to fluctuate, but does have a steady trend of decreasing. I do believe we can expect this number to continue to move down towards a healthier unemployment rate. Everything in life is a learning lesson, and the 3 years of this recession is no exception. Some were fortunate enough to keep their jobs, while others were not so fortunate. When looking back at this time, it is important to take away some life lessons.

1.) Never take anything for granted:  It is never a bad idea to plan for a rainy day, and never stop educating yourself. It is very important in this very competitive job market to keep your skill set fresh, and find ways to grow as a professional. There will always be someone waiting to take your job if you are no longer willing to provide the quality work in which you were hired for. This is true at all levels, no matter how much money you make! If you are able to take pride in the work you do, then I can almost guarantee someone will notice and it will pay off in the long run.

2.) It could always be worse: If you are looking at your life and feel you have it pretty bad, you should know there are those who are less fortunate than you. I once heard a fact in church that was pretty eye opening, and it went something like this; If you have a roof over your head, some sort of food in your fridge, and at least $20 to your name then you are better off than 75% of the world population. Can you imagine that? With just that little to your name, you have it better than so many others.  

3.) Find a hobby or passion: Finding something you like to do on the weekends is not only good to explore additional areas of interest, but this is a great way to exercise your soul! I found my hobby in blogging, and it is a way for me to get out my thoughts on paper, and it has also been a great networking tool. I would not say I am an expert blogger, and at the end of the day it is not so much for the audience, but more for me to reflect on everyday learning and fine tune my recruiting skills!

4.) There is no such thing as overkill in networking: When the recession hit, it was very hard for the average person to find a job. When it is all said and done, it will be your skill set that will land you the position, but it never hurts to have a recommendation from a well respected employee within the company for which you have applied to. Many organizations have come to rely on referrals as a candidate source. With technology being where it is, you have so many different ways to network. If you are more of a shy person, then LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and online forms of networking are great. If you are more outgoing, then finding some MeetUp Groups on MeetUp.com or other local user groups may be your best option. As a candidate you have many options when it comes to finding a position, and networking is an important piece to that puzzle.

History repeats its self, and we all need to be prepared when another recession hits. If you are able to take lessons from this last recession, you will be more prepared to fight through the next one.