Career Planning for the Worst Case Scenario

In today’s Wall Street Journal, Sarah Needleman writes about companies who mis-handle employee firings. It’s hard to say which is more cruel: getting a phone message, getting invited to a meeting to be told the company will be dissolved or simply ordered out on five minutes notice.

But you can’t control how a company chooses to fire you. You can control how you will prepare for your own worst case scenario.

Diagram your play before you need one.

Imagine a basketball team that’s down by 10 with 3 minutes to go. The coach has a play already diagrammed and ready to go. Even if your team probably won’t win, you know what to do: cut into the loss, hope to pick up free throws and bring out your best 3-point shooter.

You need to be your own coach, although you may hire “assistant coaches” like the pros do.

So let’s say you’re recruited away from a terrific job to head up marketing for a new product line, like one manager in today’s story. You have to move a thousand miles away, uprooting your family. And then the company decides not to move forward with the product line.

I encourage my clients to anticipate being stranded. People do get fired within 6 months of a big move. It happens more than most people realize, at every level of corporate life.

If you’re in a secure position when you’re recruited, you may be able to negotiate a contract or letter of agreement to pay a lump sum if the position falls apart.

You may decide to leave the family and commute for six months while you scout out the situation. You might have a working spouse or a start-up plan for your own business.

Of course, you can probably think of at least a dozen more options if you go into brainstorming mode.

But I recommend taking stock every 3 to 6 months. What will you do if your job disappears tomorrow? There’s no easy answer. But you can set up resources to call, build a network, and create an emergency fund.

And you can come up with a set of questions to ask your new employer before you sell your home and move your spouse, kids and dog across the country or around the world.

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