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The robots are coming! What’s your plan?

Look out! The robots are coming! Seriously, they’re coming! And they want your job!

… OK, phew. Your job is safe now from automation. That was a close one.

But look out! Budget cuts and layoffs are coming! Watch out for falling axes! Your job is in danger!

… OK, you dodged that one. Good. You can relax; your job is safe, you have a good thing going, your boss is great, and — what? Your boss just took a new position in Charlotte and your new boss is the guy down the hall who’s had it in for you since day one? 

Panic!

… Or don’t panic, if you have a solid exit plan.

Any of these scenarios can be disastrous, and depending on your career, any of them could happen to you. That’s why it’s vital to have an exit plan in place before you need one.

How to prepare

Your exit plan should include:

  1. Having an updated résumé. It should describe your current job, responsibilities, and recent accomplishments.

  2. Keeping your skills up-to-date. Don’t get complacent because your job only requires you to know version 5 of the software. If version 6 is out, you’d better learn version 6, and mark your calendar for the release of version 7.

  3. Maintaining contact with your network. You know other people in your field who work for different companies; check in with them every now and then, connect with them on LinkedIn, have lunch to trade news from other corners of the industry. Know the environment, get their take on which way the winds are blowing, and start thinking about which direction you should set sail if the waters get choppy.

You never know when you will need your exit plan; it may sit in the back of your mind for years until you retire according to your own schedule. If so, mazel tov!

But if something unexpected does happen to throw you off course, an exit plan will let you start your new career path from a place of preparedness and control instead of panic and desperation. And that’s the best way to leave one job: with a firm focus on the next one.

After the layoff, planning for the rebound

The spring of 2020 feels a lot like the fall of 2001. Everyone is afraid, the economy is tanking, and anybody who dares predict what happens next is a fool. Millions lost their jobs and can’t fathom where their careers will go next.

In 2001, I was one of them: 22 years old, a recent college graduate, suddenly laid off, with no rebound plan.

I took a day to absorb the shock, then got to work taking inventory of my competitive advantages. Being 22, that didn’t take long (the entire process happened on the way from the living room to the kitchen to get a bagel). Furthermore, I had a two-day-a-week unpaid internship that was costing me $250 a month in train fare between the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City and my parents’ basement in Poughkeepsie, where I was gratefully, if not tidily, living rent-free.

By the time the bagel popped out of the toaster, I had come to one undeniable conclusion: To prepare for whatever came next, I would need to convert my newfound free time into an asset.

The next day, I asked my internship supervisor if I could start coming in five days a week instead of two. I already had the commuter pass for Metro-North Railroad, I had exactly nothing else to do, and they weren’t paying me anyway, so why not let me answer more phone calls and hold Dan Rather’s bottle of diet Peach Snapple between takes? In the meantime, I’d be making more contacts, learning more skills, and immersing myself more in the fast-paced world of the industry where I hoped to build my career?

Time for a new résumé

The other thing I did, which turned out to be even more valuable, was update my résumé.

Then as now, opportunities were scarce, and the people willing to read a résumé were even scarcer. But I also knew that the scarcer opportunities were, the more likely they were to pop up when you least expect them. The worst that could happen would be for a great job to present itself, but not be ready for it because I lacked a crisp, updated résumé. That position would go to someone who was already prepared to apply.

Any time of unemployment—whether due to a layoff, graduation, or a voluntary separation—is the perfect time to update your résumé. You’ll need it more than ever, you have all the latest information at the ready (it’s not like there’s a promotion waiting around the corner), and when it’s suddenly an employer’s market, you need to be sharp and ready to pounce.

Fortune favors the prepared. A tight job market favors the prepared, as well. It was true then, and even though nothing else may seem certain right now, it’s true today, as well.

The Syracuse Pen provides résumé and cover letter services. Visit our home page for more information about what we can do for you.

Greg Marano