February 10, 2018

Picture this you are working at a company for a period of time, when you start hearing rumors that the company is acquiring another company or that your company is to be acquired by another, these would be in part known as "Red Flags". What should you do?

1. It's been our experience that no job, no company, and no one truly has "job security" even the CEO of a company, or the Owner.  With this said we here suggest something really simple but very few do it and that is to keep your resume up to date always. As you progress in your career, learn new skills, get different responsibilities, and promotions, revisit your resume and keep it updated and pristine.

2. Next with the "Red Flags" described above, and with the fact that you have updated resume, we suggest, looking and sending out feelers to other companies. 

3. Why should you do this? Any interruptions in your life in general is hard, a job loss a lay off, etc. affects your livelihood and being smart in your career is all we want you to do. Looking at your surroundings and knowing of potential issues and then being proactive is better than being reactive. It will not hurt you to look around for anything new. Just do it.

4. My company is doing the acquiring isn't that good? Yes and no it's also been our experience that just because a company is the one acquiring another company doesn't necessarily mean it's a good thing. At one time one of our writers worked for a company that was acquiring another company. However, the other company's IT department was much stronger than his and that IT department took over the acquiring company's IT department and because of duplication in team members he was laid off. Also this has the reverse effect, as you could see that acquired company probably had concerns as they were being acquired. Regardless whether your company is being acquired or doing the acquiring the lesson here is that job security is not a real thing, and we suggest in these situations to look for something new, ahead of time, just in case.

5. Final note. Being prepared is always wise as long as it doesn't control you, so in cases described in this article we suggest, keeping your resume updated, so that looking for a new position elsewhere would be easier. Change in general is not easy, but being prepared and ready can make things smoother, should it come to that. No reason to fully leave unless you are ready but imagine, sitting at home after perhaps years of hard work and twiddling your thumbs while everyone else is working, learning and growing. Be prepared.