Bolster your job security

The term ‘job security’ implies a guarantee that you have about the permanency of advantageous employment for your work life. It generally arises from the terms of the contract of hiring; and rules and regulations that preclude its subjective termination. Job security can also be impacted by general financial and economic conditions.

In your life you will have liabilities and obligations to fulfil. And that is precisely why you learn and develop skills; and eventually take up a job. And once you are in a job, your focus invariably shifts to protecting it. With a job for a lifetime having become history, the issue of job security is more important today than ever before.

How can you bolster your job security? It is all contingent on the following factors:   

· Availability of avenues: In the first place, there have to exist adequate possibilities of promoting your abilities. You need to look beyond your current organisation to discover companies that could be seeking people with skills that you possess. It is necessary that you carry out an extensive survey of the job market to infer if there is a requirement therein or not. You can gain extensive and all-inclusive insight by going through various job portals and hiring sites. If you have to learn and develop new skills, the efforts involved can be tremendous. The entire process can be rather difficult, but it tends to defeat all other options. The maiden initiative has to come from you and it is all about ensuring that your skills remain perennially updated and in demand.

· Being brilliant: When you are at work, it is not necessary that you take delight in each and every facet of it. There will be some components of your responsibilities that will be lacklustre and uninteresting; and fail to inspire you. You may have problems in dealing with colleagues or seniors or even clients, but such problems need to be acknowledged as encounters of tests and trials. In your endeavours to outshine, you have to make certain that whatever is your charter of work is comprehended by you well and that your performance is good. You will be expected to make useful contributions at all times. Today’s workplace is all about teamwork and hence your output will be contingent on you as also them. You will invariably want conscientious and good people as part of your team. Remember that there is no job that is plush and sans challenges; there will be potholes on your career journey. If you think that things elsewhere will be rosy, you will be mistaken. A point that needs to be understood that it is your camaraderie that will matter the most. Notwithstanding your expertise and knowledge, if you cannot gel and pull along well with others, expecting that another company will take you will amount to being presumptuous. It is a real skill by itself working with others and there are no two ways that you can underplay it. .       

· Connections & contacts: They say that if you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail. In all your efforts, you need to prepare well. And this holds great relevance in establishing and widening your contact base too. You simply cannot go about establishing a network at the last moment. It is all an advanced action. If you are well-prepared, you can always serve your moment of inspiration. You can always get into a new job if you excel in your current one, but when people know you well, the process becomes all the more easy. When you establish contacts, it need not be seen as an inconvenience. Your networking efforts can easily be incorporated in your daily schedule. The key point is to always to stay connected; the internet and various social media sights facilitate your endeavours. Having a contact base is one thing, but being able to render assistance to people in your list is another and very important. When you help others, you can expect the same from them.

You cannot take your job security for granted. You need to remain proficient at your work and be marketable at all times. In doing so, you will automatically generate job security for yourself. The driving force of a career must come from you. Your employer will always desire that all workplace problems are resolved, all opportunities are exploited and that the job entrusted to you is completed. You have to persuade your boss and management into believing that nobody can do such tasks better than you. When you create an impression of being too valuable to be dispensed with, you safeguard your job security.   

In the light of the above, you have to get in the habit of making decisions based on what is best for your company. You will need to be on the lookout for tasks that are being neglected and volunteer to take them on. If you are perceived as an employee who makes serious efforts towards organisational growth and who is willing to take on new challenges, your indispensability will stand highlighted. The key to your job security thus lies in good performance and being irreplaceable at work.