“So, what advice do you have for me in times like these?”

That’s a question I hear most often and I have decided put together a top 10 most important points here.  Follow these and you will surely experience success even in troubled times, which may be fast upon us.  The credit crunch of last year and increasing volity of today’s markets point to turbulent times ahead, with the employment sector taking the hits.

1. Stay informed. One of the reasons to start this blog now is to help not just those in my personal network but everyone who recognizes the need to be informed.  Keep up with the news, work environment and personal connections, talk to recruiters.  Information is a crucial tool for today’s corporate survival.

2. Be cautious. Especially when dealing with large Investment Banks even if they are ‘hiring’.  The process can get bogged down at any time and precious time will be wasted.  The process may also kill your chances of getting into this company at a better time.  Additionally tread carefully with popular job boards. Not only will the hundreds of thousands of outsourced recruiters rip your time to shreds, they may ruin your chances (see below) but also almost every HR looks through those and can easily add you to the layoff list.

3. Find recruiters you can trust. Not everyone knows what they are doing or talking about.  Stay away from firms that show signs of being a resume shop, ones that do keyword matching and throw everything at the wall to see what sticks.  Those days are over and these recruiters will ruin your img and may bar you from applying to important opportunies by impoperly representing you.

4. Stay on top of the hottest technologies. Challenge yourself to learn more everyday and to polish core development and architecture skills.  Coming up from the brink of a crash the industry will need to rebuild from scratch and they will need builders a lot more than thinkers and managers.  Push yourself to roll up the sleeves and get dirty with the code!

5. Know thy environment. Research the current situation with the current employer.  Talk to managers, HR, friends, read bulletins and news.  Even a sure thing may be a mirage.

6. Have options in case ’something goes down’. Keep your resume updated with the key technologies and responsibilities and keep contact with a network of trusted recruiters that will keep your information in confidence until the right time.

7. Dont pass up a good thing. Monitor the opportunities that enter the market through Live Job Feeds (such as www.cmp.jobs, www.livetechjobs.com).  If you see something that corresponds with your goals and preferences, give it a shot.  A new hires are not likely to be fired from companys with active hiring budgets and so you have much less risk working in a new job than the current one.

8. Be Flexible. Yes, it sucks to make less.  Dont expect to make the same amount in today’s economy as in the one 6 months ago.  Do the numbers and figure out what the ‘bare minimum’ is. Higher rates are also a bigger target for cost-cutters.  The market WILL rebound and a temporary setback in income will be healthy for a career.  Also, dont get stuck in highly niche, Capital Markets areas (CDOs, ABS, etc) or technology (i.e. specific J2EE libraries).

9. Focus foremost on career goals and continued personal progression. Think of your long term plans and goals and go toward achieving those.  Don’t stay in C++ if you really love C#.   Flow along with the latest technology, even if your job doesn’t require it.  Place that before compensation and perceived job security.  Follow your heart and everything else will fall into place.

10. Practice Zen. Maintain balance between physical and mental self through excercise, meditation, responsibility and learning.   All stress originates in the mind, less of it will directly benefit your mood, environment and course of events.

We will return to these points in later posts, expanding and adding more information.

Good luck!!