The survival kit

The survival kit

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The life is not that smooth as we wish it to be. The ups and downs are inevitable and one has to be mentally prepared that the good phase is not going to continue for ever. Well, it is easier said than done as any period of routine thaws our brain to a state of rest, we tend to become complacent and forget the realities of life.

The survival of the fittest is the ageless law of the nature but the fittest are rarely the strong. The fittest are those endowed with the qualifications for adoption, the ability to accept the inevitable and conform to the unavoidable to harmonize with or changing conditions.

A Maori saying states, “a little storm and then rainbow appears.”

It means that worry over small difficulties is often found to be needless when a successful outcome follows.

While listing down the tools for survival I have used my experience or the experiences shared by others. Also the tools given below are not put in any set order as the adverse situation does not come in an orderly fashion.

Core Competence

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In today’s world where professionalism is becoming the buzzword there one must identify ones USP (unique selling proposition). What is that unique skill you have developed or in other words what is that skill or knowledge in which you are proficient. If you have not yet thought on that it is better that you take help of your friends to identify your strength. For example you may be good in public relation, may be you are good in writing précis and so on and so forth. In your hard time like suddenly the establishment retrenched you then your core skill will take you through in your hunt for a job.

Networking

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I personally give maximum weightage to this skill. You must keep on making friends and be in touch with them in regular basis. If you are introvert then you have to muster this skill of making friends. When you are in a difficult situation then this network of friends acts as the lifeline. You can use this network for gathering information which otherwise you are not able to get within the confine of your work place. If you are out of job then again this network comes to your rescue.

Favor banking

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You must be wondering about this bank. It is nothing to do with money. The moment you mention money then this bank vanishes. Whenever any one does anything for some one then he expects immediate return in terms of money or any kind of gift. The operative principle of this bank is keep doing good to others even without their requesting you and don’t expect any return from them. Then you will find that when you are in trouble then from some unknown place you are getting help. If you enquire about this help then you will discover that it is some one whom you helped long back is returning your help. It works like magic. This particular tool I am listing from my own experience.

Positive mindset

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The moment any adverse thing happen to any one then he starts blaming others and goes pitying himself. Very often such people loose heart and become depressed. They start visualizing that now the situation is hopeless and he can not get out of the abyss. A man with a positive mindset takes the set back as a lesson and tries to learn from the failure. As George Bernard Shaw wrote, “When I was young I observed that nine out of ten things I did were failure; so I did ten times more work.

Take initiative

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I have noticed many people with rich learning and experience are not getting job after VRS or after getting laid off. They assumed that as because they were in some reputed organization so the other employers must be aware of him and will come to him with job. This is a very rare situation, if one would have been that good in profession then he would not have been the man forced to take VRS or got himself thrown out. One has to restart the journey like a fresher; he has to present himself to the market. The birds have to fly in search of food; they don’t sit on branches with their beaks wide open so that food will fall from the sky. The marketplace for job is just a click away. One has to put his resume in the internet.

Creative thinking

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There are number of instances when somebody has been thrown out of job but was not disheartened. With whatever little money he has saved started a business and prospered. Here he did a creative thinking. There are cases when you are not satisfied with your work then you resign and start your own business. If you have a new idea of business then money to start the business is not a problem at all. How Narayanmurthy with his four friends started Infosys twenty years back is a part of the legend now.

Multitasking

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Every company is clubbing work to reduce the cost of man power. You might have noticed that the person issuing the boarding pass to you is also checking your boarding pass at the gate. The same is not done by the employees of the government owned airlines. I have seen in foreign country, the driver of the long distance bus does the loading and unloading of the luggage and also issues ticket. In India also this is catching up so one should not mind in doing some add on job. The idea is that every job is important in the work chain.

Ready to move

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We often fall in this trap of searching job at the place of stay. This may not be possible always. One must be mentally prepared to leave the comfort zone where he has friends and relatives and move to a place which offers greater opportunity. It is a trade off one has to accept in life. The internet gives access to jobs available anywhere in the world so one has to widen his vision.

Computer savvy, internet

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This is the most necessary modern tool. One may not become expert to make programmes but one should be able to store data, retrieve, write, send e mail etc. In today’s knowledge ocean the skill to surf the internet is must. The internet is a virtual library; one has only to know how to scan the catalogues. One can find articles on any topic written by experts and freely available in the internet. It is lightly said the one can get enough know how to assemble an atom bomb from the internet.

Data warehousing

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It is a good practice to log the data of the work done. We Indians are very poor in maintaining records. You will find that in adverse condition these data so kept come very handy. We are in knowledge era and where the data operate the system, they are like gears of a wheel. You might have noticed that how every one is busy on their lap tops. They can not move an inch without the ubiquitous lap top.

Communication skill

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Now a days there are professionals available who coach people in acquiring this skill. One must be able to communicate clearly either verbally or in writing. It is said that more than 60% is communicated by body language only in verbal communication. We Indians are accused of talking more but not to the point. That is the reason why every one wants to own cell phone so that even if the friend is not present physically still he can contacted for any insignificant reason. The points are to be conveyed in a précis and organized manner. The summing up has to be definitive to show the conviction of the logic.

Developing new skills

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If one is talented as Hussein then one need not learn any other skill, but in reality it is not so. It is a good idea to acquire some additional skill for enhancement in career or survival. There are numerous self help books are available to guide you in proper direction of learning. It has been observed that by profession one might have chosen a field but he may have knack in some other field. I always advise people to cultivate his that talent. What he developed for profession is skill but what he has in born is the latent talent. That talent has to be nurtured and ultimately that may become his survival tool. Like many people indulge in cooking as a hobby but this can be developed to a full time business venture.

Be alert

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The changes taking place are infinitesimal. These are not noticeable, but by the time it becomes noticeable the change has already occurred. This is the age of smart operation and one has to do constant reality check. Even if someone is in a secured job but still he must find out his market value. If you don’t constantly check your market value then you will not know when you have become obsolete. A recent study has shown that in knowledge industry a man more that 45 years of age can not find a suitable job as the industry prefers younger people with fresh mind. Though there is many fold increase in salary but at the same time hazard like this also cropping up. One must be alert and keep all options open.

Learn

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Many industries are allowing sabbatical leave to its employees so that they can acquire fresh knowledge. The other name of learning is life. As the life goes on similarly learning has to continue. There is no age bar for learning and one can learn from any one. The continuous learning keeps the mind busy and keeps away from the disease like Alzheimer. Look at Khuswant Singh, the writer and journalist who even at an age of more than 95 is alert like a school boy.

Safety net

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This is also known as nest of egg for the future. This is the age of consumerism. The banks are ready to give loan in easy terms. It is a big trap. Today we see practically every one we know has taken some loan or other. So now he has to keep working to pay back the loans. EMI is the buzzword. This amounts to every one working for the banks. It is a honey trap. We are following Charbak’s philosophy of “Rinang kritya Gheeritang pibate” Have Ghee by taking loan, live for today as tomorrow is not there. But if there is a recession or because of any other reason some such person loose his job then how is going to manage his finances? So one must save simultaneously for that rainy day. He has to cut his coat as per the length of his cloth. The paper is full of stories about suicides as they were not able to payback the loans.

I have enumerated the soft skills required for survival under adverse condition. The persons with skills like fitter, welder, electrician, plumber, carpenter etc are much sought after skill set in today’s booming real estate market. Even the foreign countries are issuing visa readily for these types of experts. They have to only keep themselves physically fit for the hard manual work.