5 smart ways to recession-proof your career in the Czech Republic

As I shared in my article on LinkedIn, having strong, genuine connections and a large network are really the new currency. Having more people in your professional network will open the door for you to more opportunities, knowledge, and friendships. Maybe right now you’re comfortable in your job, but you never know when you’ll want a change. To be clear, I’m not saying you should be solely focused on how these people can help you one day. Rather, the connection should be genuine because you like what that person is doing and you admire them. If you think about building your network in this genuine way, you’ll create much stronger connections with people, and one day when you need something from them, they will be more likely to help you.

Having a mentor can help you fast track your career. Mentorship is about getting guidance from someone more experienced, who was once in your situation, to help you deal with specific career challenges. These challenges can vary from breaking into a new field, improving your hard and soft skills, learning how to be a better manager, asking for a promotion, or helping with a job strategy. With the recession approaching, you want to be indispensable for your employer. That’s why you have to be on top of industry trends, and keep bringing value to your company.

In this time, you should not rely financially only on your employer. If the crisis hits, and you are let go, you don’t want to be without any income. Consider starting a side-hustle through your hobbies or your strengths. If you are a marketing professional, try to find a client for marketing freelance work. If you are passionate about finance, start a blog, and organize a webinar to teach people about how to track their finances. If nothing comes to your mind that you could generate additional income from, use your time to build your personal brand.

Now it’s time to make yourself a valuable employee. How do you do that? Stay on top of industry trends, learn new skills, and get better at what you do. It’s always better to have someone to guide you, such as a mentor, but there are things you can do on your own. Read as much possible, listen to podcasts, watch webinars (many of them are for free now), or take online courses. Is there a skill such as data analytics for example, that is not currently a strength of yours but could help you become more valuable in your workplace? Then you should consider taking an online course.

During a recession, things are often out of our control. No matter what happens with your job and career, don’t beat yourself up — instead, take things that come your way as a fresh start. Surround yourself with the right people, who will support you and motivate you to find new opportunities. Sometimes, out of comfort, we don’t take risks and don’t follow our dreams until we’re forced by external factors. No matter what happens, try to look at things from the bright side. You’ll get out of this stronger than ever.