Insight

The past two to three years have been good to the high tech industry in Singapore. The job market for IT talent is especially strong, salaries going up and opportunities for career growth reasonably good.  

We all would like this to continue but are we ignoring the global forces in place at our own peril. Global inflation, a weak US economy, soaring oil prices, tumbling stock markets. Do you need more?  

Of course we could just carry on with our daily working lives and hope for the best and grab on to the few strands of good news out there. However, having been through several slowdowns in the high tech industry these past 28 years, my suggestion is to start actively preparing for a possible slowdown and its affect on your career.  

I have a few suggestions to start with. This is by no means a detailed plan but I think a good way to start. First take a look at your company and the services it offers. In difficult times customers look at solutions that clearly give them an edge or reduce costs and they are looking at doing this in the short term. If you firmly believe in the benefits of your company’s product, it is a good start. Secondly ask yourself how global your company is and how significant the contribution is from Singapore or whichever territory in Asia you cover. The more regional a company is the more opportunities it has in addressing opportunities in the region that may be less or unaffected by economic slowdown. Other things to look at include the verticals that the company serves, whether that industry is immune to slowdowns – such as government and utilities. What about your Company’s  financial strength, it’s competitive advantage and so on.  

The next important thing to do is to reinvigorate your personal and professional network. Make a list of companies in your industry that you feel meet the criteria spelt out in the previous paragraph. Make it a point to track these companies and most importantly use your network to get you information on open positions that you are well qualified for.  

These are just some o the key basic things anyone in a career should do, it is more crucial to do this when time are good and not wait and react only when the slowdown comes. As for the positions that are most valuable during a time of slowdown. Well the rule of thumb is, the more customer facing the better.  

In my own area of telecommunication and networking, my suggestion is to target the mobile and wireless area. There are many company’s out there that are very innovative in offering solutions for better management of networks, value added services , enhancing customer experience and security to name but a few.  

Remember, your career is in your hands not your company’s.