Do I Stick With My Failing Company -- or Jump Ship?

Dear Stanley,
The recent mortgage meltdown has put my company in danger. I'm afraid of suddenly losing my job, but I don't want to jump ship too early. I really want to avoid moving, but the small town I live in does not provide any real employment opportunities. Also, we won't get a severance because we're a small company. How do I know when to start looking for other jobs?
Worried

Dear Appropriately Worried,

Is NOW convenient for you? How about right now, then?

I'm not saying it's time to jump ship -- don't get me wrong. A lot of companies are in danger, and I would never advise people to begin bailing out just because things look bleak. A number of old maxims suggest themselves -- sayings having to do with grass being greener and leaving frying pans only to find oneself squarely in the fire. There is almost no job in the world right now that is not in jeopardy. So I guess, for a while, we're all going to have to suck it up, take a deep breath, and try not to freak out every time Wall Street burps or the Chinese decide to attack our currency.

That said, we must all, I think, fight the human tendency to freeze like deer in the headlights when the approaching 12-wheeler of disaster comes thundering down on us. Shakespeare referred to this in his play about a guy who suffered from precisely that affliction: the inability to move into action when circumstances demand it. In his famous soliloquy, Hamlet mentions our common fear of "the undiscovered country, from whose bourn no traveler returns, [which] puzzles the will, and makes us rather bear those ills we have than fly to others that we know not of." Of course, the Prince of Denmark was talking about facing Death, not a new job. But the prospect of being fired or laid off and having to enter the job market right now? What's the difference? Death may seem a more attractive option at times.

Begin the process of preparing to move your act. Keep your wits about you. Do your job well. Don't, for goodness sake, get fired because you're not sticking to your knitting. But dust off that resume. Talk to your family -- if you're not a workaholic and still have one. Look online to see what kind of prospects there are in your field, and where they might be. I hear jobs are plentiful in one of the Dakotas. You could start there. You might also look in related fields that have more activity than yours. People in finance, for instance, have talents that transfer to other, better disciplines than banking, even though that's where they might have started. Try to see what's going on as an opportunity, not a threat. Of course it's a threat, too, but what's the point of being negative about things? It's the positive dudes who believe in their own magic who do best in this world.

Whatever you do, do nothing until that little voice inside you turns into a big one and starts screaming. If I jumped out of the airplane every time I thought it was going to crash, I wouldn't be into my third reclining chair here at the funny farm.