In a sour market, aim to learn new skills

Nevin Fox and his wife Molly take in a movie recently in Boston. Fox, who took a job with Burns & Levinson when he graduated, considered the law firm’s parental leave policy in his decision. Fox chose a midsize firm so he could have access to the partners, do more varied work, and ‘‘just learn as much as I can.’’ (Bill Brett Photo for The Boston Globe)

The debate continues about whether and when a recession is coming, and what the markers would be. Most of us are in no position to do the analysis ourselves, but you don't need to be an economist to know that if people are talking about recession, you should do some thinking about what you would do if one occurs.

Here are five ways to cope with a job market that turns sour:

1. Cut spending. This is obvious, but it's hard to do. It might make it easier to do when you consider that the average job hunt in a bad market takes six months. But cutting expenses isn't just about building up savings.

It's also about broadening the range of jobs you can take. When jobs are harder to come by, the good jobs are really hard to come by, and if you can take a salary cut, you're more likely to be able to move into a position that you enjoy.

2. Specialize. People think that if there are fewer jobs, a wide range of skills makes someone more employable. It's not the case, though.

In a tight job market, employers can hold out for the perfect fit. And if you are not clearly defined as a specialist, then you are not going to be a perfect fit for anything.

3. Do something great - right now. Most people have been participants in the last decade of manic job hopping. Which means most people have followed a pattern of performing well at a company, writing those achievements on their resume, and then making the next hop. This works in a job market where you can control when you leave.

But if you get laid off before you accomplish something significant, you will end up with a dark spot on your resume - a place where you did not do anything particularly notable.

So do something now, fast, that you will be able to quantify as an achievement on your resume - as in completed X project in X percent less time than anticipated, or saved X dollars by working twice as fast as normal.

4. Consider graduate school. There's a reason why so many Generation Xers went to graduate school: There were no jobs in the early '90s. In a down job market, grad school is a way to enhance your skills when there are no available jobs that will do that. And one of the most popular choices is law school because there is a clear path to a law firm and you didn't have to pass organic chemistry in college.

The good news in this area is that law firms have become much more accepting of peoples' personal lives since the last recession. Many law firms have retooled how they operate to give people more time to have a life outside work, and they have changed their policies to accommodate different stages of life.

One example of this type of firm is Burns & Levinson. When Nevin Fox took a job here right after law school, one of the important considerations he had was their parental leave policy.

For many people, even if they don't need the leave now, they can use this benefit as a gauge for how a firm will treat employees. Also, Fox works 50 to 60 hours a week, a lot for most people, but a definite decrease in the hours that associates worked a couple of decades ago.

5. Focus on the quality of work and quality of mentoring. Fox chose a midsize law firm so that he could have more access to partners than at a big firm, and do more varied work than at a smaller firm.

When Fox sums up his goals for his job right now, he echoes the focus you should have, no matter what kind of market you are in: "I just want to learn as much as I can."

The hardest thing to do in a bad job market is to keep your learning curve high. You won't always have the choices that Fox had, in a good job market.

If the market goes sour, instead of focusing on the perfect industry or the perfect company, focus on developing new skills. And then refocus your career into a more suitable industry or location when the job market gets better.

Penelope Trunk is the author of Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success. Read her blog at blog.penelopetrunk.com.