I have been a professional programmer for 44 years and have NEVER had "job market anxiety". Why? Because I sincerely believe that there is zero correlation between the job market and my ability to find work.
I don't pay attention to what anyone says about the economy, the market, or anything else macro, especially on the internet. And I have gone through times that were much much worse than now.
I never worried about losing any job because I was certain I could find another. The longest I've ever been out of work was for a few weeks.
A few tips:
- Have x months expenses in the bank. Take the pressure off.
- Have multiple resumes ready to go, programmer, analyst, sys admin, manager, even data entry.
- Stay in touch with your network. Not to get a job. Just to stay in touch.
- Keep your skills fresh. Always have a side project.
- Remember we're not in energy, education, or manufacturing. Their cycles are killers. Our in tech are not. Everyone else depends on us.
- Fuck anxiety. We build stuff out of nothing. We're stronger than bad news.
I don't pay attention to what anyone says about the economy, the market, or anything else macro, especially on the internet. And I have gone through times that were much much worse than now.
I never worried about losing any job because I was certain I could find another. The longest I've ever been out of work was for a few weeks.
A few tips: