How to save your career in the downturn

Recessions mean redundancies and budget cuts. What are CIOs and IT workers to do? Andy McCue offers counselling from the experts.

Most CIOs will happily tell you their careers owe more to luck and opportunity than careful planning but in reality having a plan is half the battle when aiming to climb up the slippery rungs of the career ladder.

The problem with plans - as military types are accustomed to say - is they rarely survive first contact with the enemy. That's never been more true than in the current economic climate where many good CIOs and IT executives have found they are suddenly surplus to requirements and so now out of work.

Alex Meek is one of them. The retail sector has been decimated by the current downturn and his company, The Pier, is one of those high street names to go into administration. Meek, head of IT at the company, has a career plan to get an IT director role but redundancy means the plan now has to be hastily revised.

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Meek is still focusing on his long-term aim of reaching director level but says: "You have to adjust it as market conditions shift. I might take contract work or an IT manager role. You have to be less choosy."

CIO leadership coach and chairman of CIODevelopment.com, Brinley Platts, says in the current environment CIOs must be prepared to adapt their career development plan and work out new ways of getting to their goal without getting caught up in recession doom and gloom.

"People shouldn't worry too much about the recession and redundancy. Don't worry about what it looks like on the CV. It's like World War II. So when people ask what did you do - [you say] 'I was in the war' just like everyone else."

But what is the best course of action for a CIO or rising IT management star who finds themselves in receipt of a handshake and a redundancy payoff? Platts advises doing anything that will broaden business experience and/or has some strategic orientation.

"Do some independent consulting or an interim position. Or do some advisory work on something strategic using IT. It's also an opportunity to start to work on those skills where you may be a bit weak - the non-tech leadership and management skills, talking with charisma, the really soft stuff," Platts says.

For some CIOs the prospect of a meaty redundancy package might appeal but Bryan MacDonald, partner at executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles, warns against taking it.

"If there's an opportunity to leave the organisation because there's not much happening, don't just jump at it. Try and resist that because it's a tough market out there."

If that choice isn't within the CIO's control then it's important they get as much honest feedback on their performance from their HR director and boss - and not lose sight of the long term plan.

"One of the key things I'm trying to work with candidates on is not to get too caught up in the current climate because we can all be very reactive to the situation and it might divert their thinking and put some short-term tactics in place that may or may not serve them well in the long term," says MacDonald. "Don't let that completely cloud your approach to long term career planning. It's exactly that - a long term career plan."