back to basics-

The age of the disposable worker just sounds scary. It almost feels like a term someone came up with to instill fear into people entering the workforce. I was visiting with a friend's mother the other day and she said, "it is such a tough time to be graduating and coming out into the workforce with the recession happening." So what is a worker to do?
I say stick with the basics. Basic number one- work hard. Hard work seems to be underrated today in young employees skills. I deal with this everyday at my current job. We want to hire new employees, we have applicants coming in the door, but we have very few who actually want to work for their money. Somewhere along the line the idea of coming in to work to actually work hard got lost. Along with the idea of working hard is being willing to work your way up. Sometimes you do have to start at the bottom in order to end up at the top.
Basic number two- Develop your skills and bring as many to the table as possible. It seems like in this economy you have to be a double or triple threat. Companies are looking for someone who has the knowledge(college degree) and the experience (real life work experience) and a special skill or quality on the side. The more you are able to develop yourself the better off you will be and the more competitive you be.
Basic number three-Stay sharp. It is too easy to become comfortable at your position, but change usually brings progress. If you are comfortable chances are you have developed and understand your current level and need to push your into a new environment. Along with this- be willing change. Like we learned in the book change is inevitable in organizations and if you can be the change adept person in the organization you will be remembered and appreciated.
I don't know if there are special tricks you need in this work environment, but it seems like whenever things get out of control if you go back to the basics you can survive. That's my plan.. and even in a bad economy I believe companies will always be looking for a double threat hard worker.