Education Articles

The credit crunch is on and Ireland is in recession. Perhaps there are rumblings in your company, an air of uncertainty in the canteen and whispers of layoffs. Or maybe the worst has already happened and you’ve been forced to join a long dole queue that has materialised out of nowhere. Even if you work for a company that is holding its own, you can’t help but be aware of the general air of gloom and doom.

At times of recession, governments always talk of upskilling i.e. they look to education and training as a means of combating unemployment. And rightly so! Successful people are those who have gotten into the habit of looking for ways to continually improve and add to their skillbase. In order to recession proof your CV and become one of those successful people, that’s where you too have to start.

The trick to surviving a recession is to make yourself invaluable to your current employer or irrestible to your prospective one. How do you do that? By adding to your current skills/training or retraining to add new skills. The first thing to do is to take stock of what you currently have to offer. What skills and education do you have at present? Think of yourself as a product you are trying to sell - what makes you attractive to a prospective employer? What are the gaps?

Do you have excellent work experience but never quite got around to finishing your diploma/degree? Are you an excellent typist but a bit rusty when it comes to using the company database or accounts package? Did you leave school after your Junior Cert, and while you meant to go back to education at some stage, you have been too busy working? If so now might be the perfect time consider returning to education.

Recession means less work available, and more people competing for fewer positions. In an employer’s market, the candidates with the most up to date skills and qualifications will be the ones getting the jobs. Make sure you are in with a chance, by using this time to finish your degree, gain an additional skill, improve your literacy or retrain for a different career altogether.

Even if your job is secure, it is nonetheless a good time to evaluate your skills and education. The more you can offer your current employer, the more invaluable you become to them. For example if you are working as a hairdresser, why not take some nail technician courses; working in marketing, why not add a PR qualification to your profile; employed in network support, learn programming. The options are endless and the more you have to offer, the less likely you are to be affected by this or any recession. This is what recession proofing your CV  really means.

There are numerous education and training options out there, and will surely be something to suit your circumstances. For example if you are 6 months to a year unemployed already you may be entitled to free full-time education on a post leaving cert, diploma or degree course. If you are currently working, there are many excellent colleges offering part-time and distance options which though fee paying are still worth considering. Think of such a course as you investing in your future.

To find out more about your options, get on the internet, talk to FAS; visit your local Guidance Service or Career Consultant. Learning and up skilling is how you close the gap between where you are now and where you want to get to. Don’t get left behind.