This Is What Job Security Really Looks Like

The economic devastation wrought by coronavirus has created enormous uncertainty for workers everywhere. But it’s made one thing crystal clear: just in case you needed reminding, there’s no such thing as job security.

More than 40 million Americans, furloughed or laid off permanently by employers ranging from small businesses to the largest corporations in the world, have filed for unemployment benefits in the wake of the pandemic. With the virus far from gone, the labor outlook remains bleak both in America and abroad – which means that taking your livelihood into your own hands is more critical now than ever.

If you want to know how to do that in a smart, sustainable way, you should learn from Dorie Clark. She’s an international guru on personal brand and communication with a seven-figure annual income and a client list that includes Google, The Gates Foundation, and the World Bank.

She’s also well-acquainted with joblessness.

In her early twenties, Clark was laid off as a reporter the day before the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and struggled to find work in a stalling economy. She subsequently won, and then lost, political spokesperson jobs when promising campaigns ended unsuccessfully. Despite her frequent trips in and out of the job market, Clark kept looking for a stable job working for someone else. The alternative – working for herself – was too unsettling.

“No job, I realized, is secure. Yet working without a “guaranteed” salary still seemed frightening to me; I saw a lot more risks than opportunities,” she writes in her book Entrepreneurial You, published by Harvard Business Review Press. After five years of ups and downs, however, she’d had enough: it was time to embrace entrepreneurship. In 2006, Clark founded her own marketing strategy consulting firm. Lots of small, low-paying gigs and endless hustle followed. Gradually, so did success. Along the way, her opinions on job security evolved too: “I now believe it’s far riskier not to be diversified; if you’re relying on one paycheck from one employer, you may be courting disaster,” she says.

Clark’s journey from unemployed journalist to wealthy entrepreneur looks breathtaking on the surface. When you look closer, it’s involved a lot of planning and hard work. And she’s made it her mission to make her own success repeatable for those of us willing to put in the effort.

A trilogy of books that Clark has written over the past 7 years distills the wisdom of her personal experiences and those of hundreds of thought leaders, entrepreneurs and experts she has interviewed. Together, the books provide a roadmap for navigating what Clark defines as the three major phases of successful entrepreneurship.

The first phase, covered in Clark’s book Reinventing You, revolves around this question: How can I make big changes and position myself for the career I want? It’s a process, she explains, that starts with self-awareness, including understanding our reputation, skills and gaps and developing a sense of our next destination. An exploratory phase follows, with emphasis on testing options, honing new skills and leveraging mentors. Rather than waiting for a perfect career to reveal itself spontaneously, she says, “we get good ideas by starting in small ways to move in the direction of things that interest us.”

Once we’re in the right field, we need to ask the next big question: How can I work my way to the top and ensure that others recognize my expertise? That’s the subject of Clark’s second book – Stand Out. In her work with clients around the globe, Clark has found that this second phase is the toughest for many people. It requires a certain degree of self-promotion and a willingness to stand apart from the crowd – traits that are frowned on in many cultures and often uncomfortable for self-aware individuals who are leery of becoming self-centered. Clark offers guidance on ways to differentiate ourselves in a crowded marketplace while maintaining integrity – namely through finding a breakthrough idea that you are passionate about and then systematically building a following around it.

Entrepreneurial You explores the third and final phase of the entrepreneur’s journey: Now that I’m doing work I love and am increasingly well regarded for it, how can I create a long-term sustainable business that rewards me emotionally, intellectually, and financially? Clark examines the nuts and bolts of building a personal brand, creating multiple income streams – so that you’re never badly exposed by one or more of those streams drying up – through coaching, consulting, speaking, blogging and other activities, and the developing an online presence through courses, digital products, and partnerships.

If you’re still fortunate enough to have job these days, you don’t need to quit before acting on Clark’s advice. Now is actually the perfect time to start looking ahead. Because who knows how long this economic crisis will last, or when the next one will come?

“Even if you currently work for an organization full time and have no desire to become self-employed, developing entrepreneurial pursuits on the side can provide an additional income stream, as well as unexpected professional development opportunities,” she writes. “Even if you’re perfectly happy with your day job now, consider entrepreneurship as an insurance policy for your career.”

Most of us don’t have that kind of insurance, and it’s never been clearer why we need it now.