You may feel helpless in today's economic market. Yes, your work is good. Yes, your services are needed. But you are powerless to keep the economic tidal wave away from your feet.

Last week's CIO magazine outlined a number of strategies to help you stay above the tidal waves that still are coming, despite evidence the recession is ebbing.

"Right now, even the boss is worried about his position," Adam Lawrence, vice president of service delivery at talent and outsourcing service provider Yoh, tells CIO magazine. "They are looking for staff accomplishments to take to their managers to justify the existence of remaining team members."

Employees can stay in their boss's good graces by doing a great job and becoming essential to his operation. Here are some other tips from CIO.com:

• If you think you're in a precarious position, take on extra work, log more hours and show your employers that you want to be there.
• Identify which systems and projects are making money and head in their direction, become an essential part of that operation.
• If no projects are available, check out the sales team and get involved with their work, offering technical expertise to help them close deals.
• Get some additional training and technical knowledge to help you stand out in the IT crowd.
• Become an expert in business technology, another way to set yourself apart from the rest of the team.
• Stay away from the office water cooler and don't get caught up in office antics, gossip or scandal.

"You really want to present yourself as a likable person, a great citizen at work," Lori Gale, president of online job board FastLane Hires, tells CIO magazine. "Don't be one of those people that hangs around the water cooler gossiping and acting stressed out. You will call attention to yourself for the wrong reasons."

Remember, these are only tips. Come up with your own plan to create an essential position for yourself, one that would be sorely missed if eliminated.

For more on making yourself essential at the job:
- check out this CIO.com article

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