This last article in this series, like Part I and Part II, offers more strategies to help you successfully recession-proof your career.

Building Your Network

Job seekers often comment that they have no one to contact. Not true! Start building your network with past and present coworkers and supervisors, recruiters, neighbors, members of professional and community organizations, bankers, commercial realtors, attorneys and accountants. Don't forget vendors -- they know lots of companies and what's going on there.

Find a Partner

Find one individual who is also engaged in a job search, preferably someone in a profession or industry closely related to yours, and partner with them. This accomplishes several things:

• You have someone to whom you are accountable.
• You have someone to share the experience with.
• You can share job leads.

Interviewing

Research done by the executive search industry shows that the first person interviewed gets the job only 17.6 percent of the time. However, the last person interviewed is hired 55.8 percent of the time. Other studies show that Monday is the worst day of the week for an interview. The worst time for an interview is late afternoon.

As in most human endeavors, people are wary of accepting the first choice offered. Therefore, do what you can to position yourself among the last candidates interviewed. Furthermore, the sense of urgency may not exist at the beginning of a search.

Ask for the Job

The job interview is a sales situation, and you must follow the basic rules of selling: A good meet and greet, an effective qualification of the employer, a solid assessment of their needs and a good presentation of your abilities and the benefits of hiring you.

Once you've completed this task, ask for the job. Don't say, "I'm very interested." Instead, say, "May I have the job?" You probably won't get hired on the spot, but ask anyway. It shows assertiveness, interest, determination and commitment.

Negotiate Now

People think a recession is the worst time to ask for more money. It's really the best. In good times money flows freely, unemployment is low and it's hard to find good people. So, employers staff up with marginal people who can simply do the job.

When times get tough again, employers start to trim their staff and the first people they let go are those marginal people. Then they're really in trouble. They still have to get the work done, and they have three or four salaries available to hire one or two people. So they're desperately looking for good people and have the money to pay them.

If you're already employed with the hiring company and take over extra responsibilities, ask for a raise. If you're interviewing from the outside, stand your ground and negotiate for ample compensation.

Saying Nothing Says a Lot

You've interviewed three times, are interested in the position and they're interested in you. The only problem you're facing is a salary that is less than what you had anticipated. Don't just walk away.

Take a sheet of notebook paper and on the left-hand side of the page, write all of the positive things about the position, including information about the company, people, technology and products.

On the right-hand side of the page, simply write, "low compensation" as the only negative aspect of the position.

Share this during your interview. Although you want the interviewer to think you're showing him or her the positive things, what they'll see is the one thing you're concerned about -- compensation. Often this little trick is all you need. You may be surprised with an offer much higher than the original one.

Accumulating Career Resale Value

This executive growth strategy is clearly defined as "seeking and accepting a job offer based on its ability to score future job offers." It is a foolproof method in securing employment and assuring continued career growth.