What to expect when expecting to get ... laid off!

Avoid the ax
Being prepared for a layoff can lessen the blow, but keeping your job is an even better option. Some employers will swear up and down that whom they choose to lay off has everything to do with numbers and nothing to do with performance. Most of those companies are lying.

So if you want staying power, you have to make yourself indispensable. Jennifer Grasz of Careerbuilder.com says the best way to do that is to seek out as much responsibility as you can. And not just more responsibilities, but different responsibilities. “You want to make sure that you are showing you can handle a variety of tasks in a variety of areas, especially if they are making their staff leaner,” Grasz explains. “They are looking for folks who can handle multiple responsibilities until the economy picks up.” Also, make sure you’re getting involved in long-term projects—that’s something Hankee did, and she attributes her overachieving ways to her (relative) staying power at her old company. You also should choose work that puts you on a team. Because the asshole who doesn’t work well with others is usually one of the first to get his pink slip.

But you’re not done yet. (What, did you think keeping your job was going to require less work?) In addition to taking on all that additional responsibility, you have to make sure your bosses know about it. “You want to quantify your results whenever possible,” Grasz says. This can be a delicate business—you want to toot your own horn, and loudly, but in a way that doesn’t feel like grandstanding. Grasz suggests the “update e-mail” for exactly this purpose. An e-mail disguised as a project update can include all the amazing progress you’ve made. It should also mention the accomplishments of other people on your team (remember, you don’t want to be the asshole).

There’s a time for being more direct, too. When the rumor mill starts churning, Grasz suggests you resist its pull. Instead, if you have the stones, go directly to your boss. “Say, ‘Here are the things I’m hearing about. I don’t want to get distracted from this task at hand. Are there things I can do to make sure that I’m more indispensable within this organization?’ ”

This, in theory, will be more effective than writhing on the floor and screeching, “Keep me! Keep me! Keeeeep meeeee…”

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