The Acid Test for Job Security

Interested in your chances to stay with your job? Answer the questions below.

If CareerBabe has sent you to this page with an envelope number to look in,
click the envelope below:

Take this survey
with author Fran Quittel (a.k.a. CareerBabe)
to find out your job security quotient

To score, except where noted, for all "yes" answers add +1 to your score.

1. Performance

___ Have you been told - or are you aware - of problems or difficulties with your performance or your results?

___ Have you received any warnings, either written or verbally?

___ Are there other people, for instance, the human resource representative, being called in to document meetings between you and your boss? (This is no mere warning bell; the company is obviously trying to establish a record in case of later legal action.)

2. Management

What kind of person is your boss and how secure is his or her position within the organization?

___ Excellent (-3)
___ Fair (0)
___ Terrible (+3)

Is your boss a key executive or owner? (If your boss either doesn't like you or is himself about to be fired, that makes you vulnerable!)

___ Well-regarded key executive or owner (-3)
___ No profile key executive (0)
___ High profile poorly regarded key executive (+3)

Are you working for a highly visible, highly stressed individual?

___ Yes

3. The Company/The Industry

Is your company large or small? Small means that if there are problems, you'll have fewer options to transfer to another division. Large may mean that entire divisions are decimated or eliminated.

___ Small (+1)
___ Large (+2)

Has your company recently acquired another company or is your company an acquisition or merger target?

___ Yes

How is your company doing financially, quarter by quarter? Not just sales, but profits.

___ Excellent quarterly results (-3)
___ Up and down results (+1)
___ Terrible results (+3)

Have there been any recent quarters when the company has lost money?

___ Yes (+3)

If so, over what time period and how much money?

___ Over 1 quarter (+1)
___ Over 1 year (+3)
___ More than one year (+5)

Has top management been warned or recently replaced?

___ Yes

Is your company the industry leader, or do you have strong competition?

___ The industry leader (-3)
___ Strong competition (+1)

Within the United States?

___The industry leader (-3)
___Strong competition (+1)

Overseas?

___The industry leader (-3)
___Strong competition (+1)

What is your company's competitive edge in terms of product?

Market share?

___ Excellent (-3) ___ Fair (0) ___ Awful (+3)

Management?

___ Excellent (-3) ___ Fair (0) ___ Awful (+3)

Describe your company's deficiencies.

___ Minor, can be fixed (+1)
___ Average, we've been through this before (+2)
___ Major, we're breaking new ground (+3)

Scoring:

If you score 5 or less, Look in Envelope 1.

If 6 - 15, Look in Envelope 2.

Over 16, Look in Envelope 3.

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