Current Economic Crisis - A student's perspective

"In 2008, a global economic crisis was suggested by several important indicators of economic downturn worldwide. These included high oil prices, which led to both high food prices and global inflation; a substantial credit crisis leading to the bankruptcy of large and well established investment banks as well as commercial banks in various nations around the world; increased unemployment, and the possibility of a global recession."

This is how Wikipedia defines it.

Right; so what does it mean to us? Should we as students / fresh graduates / new hires even care? At this point, some of you reading this might be thinking " Naahh.. I work at a good company, decent pay and all, and that there's no way this will affect me." Well, think again. Companies are laying off people every day; there's talks about cutting costs, reducing work forces, staying well within the spending margins; just so they can survive. My intent here is not to make you panic, but to educate you of the grim possibility the future might hold, and the steps you might want to take to whether the storm.

The situation looks quite murky, especially for the students graduating soon - people like you and me. Companies have laid of tens of thousands of workers, skilled and experienced. So where does this leave us?

These times call for an intelligent thought or two on your part; some innovative improvisation. Remember, you are not trying to merely survive here, but also lead a good life. Save, as much as you can. If you are economically sound, the winter won't seem so bleak. When you graduate and look for a job, you might not find one immediately. So start looking early! The more time you have on your hands, the better off you will be. Also, things might get a bit choppy during your job search. Do not be disheartened, for this is quite expected. Keep going at it, and there will come a point whence you shall taste the sweet fruit of success.

In the mean time, maybe you can try an alternative approach such as free-lancing. So you think you are good at Math? Put those skills to use and teach someone who needs help. This will do two things: (i) It helps you out financially and (ii) It helps you keeps your skills sharp, which eventually helps you out in your interviews. You need to sit down and analyze yourself, find out what you are good at, and then think about ways to use those skills to your advantage.

If you have some thoughts about this, and would like to share it with the rest of us, please feel free to put pen to paper (or should I say fingers to the keyboard? :-P). In the mean time, I wish us all the best and hope that we find our shores sooner, rather than later.