Are You Really OK?

I’m OK, You’re In Trouble. Really? How convinced are the folks who were surveyed … really … that it will happen to someone else and not them?

The final results for the 2007 survey of 573 CFOs in the United States and 1,275 globally found that 72% are more pessimistic than they were in the 3rd quarter of 2007.

A more recent survey by Spherion Corp. and cited in Today in Finance, found finance and accounting employees increasingly pessimistic about the economic outlook and the availability of finance positions. "Negative economic news and turmoil in the financial markets seem to be creating general unrest about where things are in the economy," says Brendan Courtney, a Spherion senior vice president.

Despite the general unrest, “… a whopping 82% of finance and accounting employees say it’s unlikely they’ll lose their jobs suggests that they aren’t taking their pessimism personally.”

The best time to proactively manage a career is while you are still employed. In this tight economy, it is not enough to “believe” any position is secure. Sticking one’s head in the sand and hoping that any disturbance will pass him by is intentionally putting a career in reactive mode … and reacting from the street curb is infinitely more difficult.  One need only look to a good chunk of Bear Sterns 14,000 employees for confirmation of that fact.

With fewer jobs and stiffer competition for them, the time to get visible to your target market is 12 to 18 months BEFORE you plan to move.