Tips for Surviving the Unstable Job Market

The housing market is in the tank, the stock market was soon to follow—what’s next, you ask? Look no further than the jobs market. Although the unemployment rate stands at 6.1% nationally, the figure is likely to increase. Some economists believe that the rate will increase to nearly 8% before this is all over, while others believe that we are headed much higher.

Currently, the state with the highest unemployment rate is none other than little Rhody—that is, Rhode Island, whose 8.8% rate puts it atop of a most dubious list. Meanwhile at the epicenter of the housing crisis, California, the rate is 7.7%. These numbers pale in comparison to the Great Depression, when unemployment reached a staggering 25%. Even as the decade of the thirties was ending, the rate was still close to 15%. Since then, the highest unemployment rate nationally was seen in November and December of 1982, when it reached 10.8%.

These are sobering facts and if you have a job, you are indeed fortunate. But everyone should take his or her job with a grain of salt right now and instead prepare for the worst. To that end, here are seven tips for surviving the unstable job market that the nation faces.

1. Stockpile cash: In normal economic times, financial planners recommend maintaining 3-6 months of your general living expenses. These are obviously not “normal” times and in fact, we are facing a nasty recession ahead, therefore, it is preferable to have 6-12 months of cash available in cash equivalents, like savings and checking accounts, short-term CDs or money market accounts.

2. Create Cash flow: Although it would be great to always know what you spend, it is even more important to create a detailed analysis of your expenses and to identify what can be cut or reduced. Considering that everyone feels out of control right now, the simple technique of identifying what is coming in and what is going out can help you come up with short, intermediate and long term game plans. The process is hard, but well worth the effort.

3. Explore a home equity line of credit or a re-finance while you still have a job. As you probably know, it is easier to qualify for a loan when you have an income. This is only possible if you have a high credit score.

4. Health Insurance: review your current benefits and explore your alternatives. It would also be advisable to understand the rules of COBRA (you can pay for 18 months of extended coverage) and you should use any deferred money that you have set aside.

5. Review your company policy on unused personal, sick and vacation days.

6. Prepare your resume, update your contact list and learn how to use the web for networking.

7. Print out any personal documents that may be on your work computer and take home personal papers from the office.