The economy of employment is like a wave as seen in the line graph - sometimes at the crest (the mountain) and sometimes at trough (the valley). If you predict lay-offs from a distant future it’s an unforeseen event that makes one of those wave patterns. On the other side, it’s possible to know some signs of lay-offs before they happen. In this article, we discuss how to prepare for unforeseen events especially on layoffs and unemployment. What causes layoffs? Buyout ​Changing policies and standards Cost-cutting due to economic downturn Lack of funds Merger Project ends Relocation Staff redundancy Technological progress Industry decline Natural disaster These hacks are also applicable in the following situations: Resignation Pandemic (COVID-19) Medical problems Bankruptcy Why prepare To avoid economic hardships - Just imagine if you’re suddenly out of work because of lay-offs and bankruptcy, then you’re broke.  To prepare for medical problems - You’ll never know if you suddenly get sick or face medical emergencies from your family or relatives. To easily find a new job - Resigning and finding a new job will be easy if you have buffer funds to rely on and cover bills and daily experiences while searching for a new job. To easily find a new career - Changing careers will be easier if you have resources to face things that you can and can’t control. Hacks to Prepare for Unforeseen Events Keep focused on your job Some people who knew their company was planning for lay-offs may act as loafers. Dabbling in the world of procrastination can make you an easy target of employers who are thinking of reducing their workforce due to reduced revenue or hard-hit economy. Your employer might consider jettisoning staff so stay engaged from the first day you have been hired until you leave your company. Another good outcome of working zealously is you can make your employer as one of the best career networks. Pad your savings and buffer funds  Whether it’s a piggy bank full of bills and coins or several accounts, padding your savings can help you cope with the sudden and unexpected events. Savings can be your buffer funds or in other words - the shock absorber that can help you withstand the negative economic effects of the lack of stable income. Save money that is enough to cover expenses such as utility bills, rent, transportation and daily costs while finding a new job.  Take note that it’s more effective to save as soon as possible. The moment you get hired, immediately open a bank account and dedicate it as your savings account which means no - unnecessary spending. Savings and investment type Description Bank You can open and maintain several accounts in local and international banks. Cooperative A cooperative can lend you enough money to cover your unemployment days. Insurance Lets you prepare for the future. Available in various packages. Piggybank Piggy banks can be of any shape and size. It happens that piggy banks are the most popular.  Vault A more secure physical storage Lower your spending Depending on your spending habits, you can plan skinny spending without living as a total broke. In fact, spending little and intelligent spending can help you reinforce frugal living habits and save for the hard times.  Reducing your expenses also means finding a free alternative for the things you need such as using the internet to watch news or movies instead of subscribing to a monthly movie show. To save more is to identify your wants versus needs. Here are the examples: Needs Wants Apparels: Used clothing, shoes and handbags Shelter: Quality housing with size enough for the occupants Water: Clean tap water Food: Home-made meals made with healthy, inexpensive or backyard grown ingredients. Electricity: Using energy-efficient appliances Communication: Internet for Home-based job Mobile: Inexpensive smartphone Entertainment: News and streaming from the internet Exercise: Daily walking and weight lifting. Apparels: Expensive and branded clothing, shoes and handbags.  Shelter: Large house for 2 occupants  Water: Mineral water  Food: Daily meal at restaurants and fast food  Electricity: Keeping two appliances open even not absolutely needed  Communication: Ultra-fast internet just for entertainment  Mobile; Expensive smartphone  Entertainment: Monthly subscription for movie shows.  Exercise: Gym membership See it on the bright side  In layoff situations, you can picture it on the bright side by seeing the positive effects over the negative ones. There’s a saying that a negative event such as job loss is a blessing in disguise. Maybe such lay off is your chance to change your economic situation or career. Looking in the bright side can help you reduce anxiety and depression brought by negative unforeseen events. It’s focusing on things you can control and not on uncontrollable situations.   Research  Research is like doing homework. You take notes and use the internet to find articles and websites offering tips and info. Or, you can review reading materials shared by your company. In lay-offs, you can research the following: Severance benefits Employee handbook ​Labour rights Learn another skill  Relying on one skill is a set up for failure when that skill which relies on the industry suddenly hit by the economic crisis. For example, during the pandemic - COVID-19, if your skill is using software for tourist booking, you could end up unemployed since most or all tourist booking services have been affected or hit by the pandemic. It’s best to learn an extra skill if you’re still employed as this can prepare you for the hard times. Learning an extra skill comes in two ways: Learning a new skill - Acquiring a new skill to add to an existing skillset Enhancing existing skills - Polishing an existing skill through a training By upskilling, you can make your skill more marketable in the event you lose your job. You could study offline and online. More online schools are now offering digital certificates for printing or embedding in your resume. Here is the resource for the online study: List for MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses)   Repurpose your skills Got transferable skills? You can use them to find work in industries that aren’t in your industry.  Transferable skills are adaptable as they are sought across different industries such as from IT to online delivery or IT to a law office. Examples are: Writing skills Event management Multilingualism Social media management Leadership Public speaking Network If you have many connections, you can ask them for job vacancies or referrals. Meet new people, maintain contact and good relationships. The following could be your networks: Alumni networks Business organizations Friends Neighbours Volunteer organizations Work colleagues Plan a vacation You can use your free time to visit nature parks, beaches and amusement centres to relax and relieve stress. Take note that this is only okay if you have enough savings otherwise you could take a short vacation or proceed immediately to job hunting.   Update and prepare your resume and job hunting website. Any job experiences, training and new skills can be included as updates in your resume. In this way, you can easily upload them on job boards or hunting websites. Here are the things you should update in the resume: Objective or summary Skills set Education Interests or hobbies Certifications Personal info Training Portfolio links (for web developers, graphic artist, writers, SEO specialist) Website links to digitised diplomas, transcript of records, and certificates

Job search or job hunt is both exciting and daunting. You’re excited about what will be your life ahead, what will be your daily routine and who will be your colleagues. It’s daunting since you’ll be uncertain how long your job hunt will last. Are my emergency funds enough to cover those months without full-time work? Did my applications succeed?  When will I call?  You’ll ask these questions whether you’re a new graduate, a career shifter or changing jobs. JOIN A JOB AGGREGATOR/LISTING SITE Job aggregators, boards and listing sites compile and list job vacancies. They provide search and sorting tools to narrow down jobs tailored to your qualifications. Joining job search sites is free and it’s fast as you’ll need a free email account, photo and a few details of your resume. Building resumes depends on the website format - some allow uploading a softcopy (doc.x, pdf) some only provide online forms where you populate fields with name, and resume details and others provide both formats. Here’s a minimalist, and free to use sign up job portal - Ohjobs.ph.  The major advantage of a job aggregator site is that the company human resources department also uses a job aggregator to save time and reach more candidates.  Pros Cons For applicants, it saves you time over other methods listed here and makes your applications follow a laser approach rather than the shotgun technique.  Cons vary from site to site and it may include spam or redundant job posts For HR, it saves time and money to reach out more candidates.   SEND UNSOLICITED APPLICATIONS Another method is to research company names via a search engine (Google, Yandex, Yahoo, Duck Duck Go, Bing). You can find business directories such as Yellowpages. Look for each company’s careers contact page, telephone and email address. Unsolicited applications let you tap companies that you don’t know are hiring. The drawbacks of this method are - it can be time-consuming, your resume will stay unread in someone’s HR personnel email and they have no vacancies or job profiles matched to your qualifications. VISIT JOB FAIRS Job fairs are events similar to trade expos where recruiters, employers, and schools advertise their vacancies. Each company and recruiters have their booth where HR personnel receive resumes from walk-in applicants. Organizers held job fairs at shopping malls or public squares such as near barangay or municipal hall.  Pros Cons As an applicant, it lets you find hiring companies in one place and time. As an employer, it lets you reach out candidates in person in one place and time. Competition is high - many applicants will be applying for the same position at the same place and time. For applicants, it lets you ask questions in an informal manner - company history, culture and vacancies. Stress due to traffic commute, crowd and long queues. If such a job fair ad is popular, crowds and possible chaos could overwhelm both the applicants and interviewers.   For applicants and employers, job fairs might not be the best place for interviews because of noise and crowd. To succeed in a job fair,  you must: Prepare enough copies of resumes Wake up early  Dress smart and comfortable clothing Follow up your applications  Job fairs are an easy way to zero in job opportunities in one event without wasting time or trying trials and errors to companies with no vacancies. And added bonus - job fairs are great for socializing and meeting other job seekers who are potential networks. The disadvantages of a job fair are - the distance to the place of the event and some vacancies may or might not be applicable to your qualifications.  COLD CALLING Cold calling is an unsolicited calling to the company’s telephone number found in internet directories or websites. Then, you’ll ask for job vacancies or pitch your skills and experiences. You may send resumes/CVs to their email before calling their landline number.  The pros of this method - it can add a boost to your job search efforts,  give you more chances of striking luck, and hone your telephone conversational skills. Cold calling to companies can be tough if you haven't used a telephone conversation. Calling needs mobile load and that can eat a slice of your daily budget as most or all companies use landlines for their contact. JOIN INTERNSHIPS Internships are either paid or unpaid on the job training when the company lets a student experience working in a production or office site. Numerous applicants get their full-time job after serving for a number of hours, weeks and months. Getting absorbed in the workforce depends on the number of vacancies and job performance.  TRY WALK-IN APPLICATIONS When you walk-in, you are physically visiting a company office and handing-out your resumes to the HR department and the receptionist. Before visiting each company, do have: Prepare resumes (10 to 20 pieces) Carry a water bottle, portable food  Wear business or smart casual clothing Walkins are good for boosting your chances of being spotted by a recruiter/HR especially if their company has vacancies matching your qualifications and it’s a good way to increase your resume from being noticed over other applicants.  While this serves as another method of job search, walk-ins can be time-consuming and tiring especially if you are visiting random offices and handing resumes in high rise towers in Ortigas, Makati, BGC Taguig, and Cebu CBD. You may also stumble upon offices that are not currently hiring. On top of that, you’ll spend on transport, snacks and lunches and endure heat especially if you job hunt during the summer season. Such offices may or might have vacancies or if there’s any it couldn’t be the match of your job profile. FIND JOBS THROUGH A NETWORK You might have already landed a job through leads from your fiance, ex-office mates, customers, friends, friends of your parents or friends of your siblings, relatives and any random stranger you may meet. They may say “magpasa ka raw ng resume sa friend ni tito mo, may bakante doon”. You may send a resume to your uncle’s friend, there’s a vacancy there. If your social network is large, you can easily contact your friends and their colleagues for opportunities. If not, you may Start making friends or asking their business cards, phone numbers or email and then maintaining contact to avoid having you being forgotten.  Join trade expos, workshops, seminars and organisations of your interest and profession. GO TO HEADHUNTERS AND RECRUITERS Head hunters or recruiters are companies or organizations that specialize in recruiting and finding talents or people for their client companies. They are also called Human Resources companies. Their HR personnel use psychological, abstract and technical tests to gauge your mental and skill’s ability. Finally, you’ll be asked to appear for interviews from first to the last interviewer.  You might easily find jobs through staffers as they have good contacts but take note that it can be time-consuming to undergo with their recruitment process compared to applying directly to companies.   FIND JOBS THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA Social media is a powerful job search tool for finding companies - it’s a ubiquitous source of jobs - in any place where there is an internet.  More often, employers post their vacancies through social media and they post it with details of qualifications, and office address. You can also find through social media apps and websites. Social Media What is it about and how can I find a job? Facebook Job posts on Facebook pages or each company page. Twitter Some companies tweet their job openings Linkedin Social media for professionals and businesses.  Mix Social bookmarking site that aggregates links from various websites. You can also find some opportunities here. The cons of using social media are that there are numerous fake job ads or bogus company pages that post fake job offers. If you’re not careful and investigative, you could lose time and money to scammers. For anti job scam tips, visit 7 signs of job scams (and how to outwit them). POST THROUGH CLASSIFIEDS Classified sites refer to websites that show localized general and broad categorized ads. It’s a form of advertising that makes up contents such as various services offered, jobs wanted, electronics for sale, used items for sale, and even marriage wanted. People and local businesses advertise their goods and services.    Pros Cons You can find many legit job offers and you can post your services. Since anyone can post freely, classifieds are prone to fake jobs and services. Here you must exercise with caution. If a site is widely known, your ad can reach a wide geographical area and audiences. If a site is not optimized for search engines, your ad will be just a digital billboard that no one can find. Most classified sites offer some sort of limited free advertisements or totally free ad posting. Some sites limit your job ad or may offer other restrictions such as inability to send messages or know the online status.

The lockdown aims to keep people at home to protect everyone from the COVID-19 virus. The daily count for the infection, people under observation/monitoring and fatalities seems to be unabated. Some experts say that flattening the coronavirus statistics curve would take 2 to 3 months. Asymptomatic infections make it hard for people to avoid those who have been infected.  In this situation, doing self-quarantine inside your home is the best resort. This productivity and work from home can help you stay at home and get the best of your time. If you’re lucky to get an arrangement to bring your job at home, remember that not all people have the privilege to work at home.   Clean the clutter (Physical) If you have clutter lying around your table and room such as a plastic wrap, CD cases, drink bottles, coins, boxes, wrappers, shoes, bag, or even banana peel, chances are these clutter can affect your productivity. According to a study, clutter can make you distracted compared to being in a serene and organized environment. Jumbled things can negatively impact your resilience, mood and your ability to concentrate. •  Purging some things Most working or studying Filipinos are renting in a small apartment, condo and flat. Others are lucky to own their condos and house. You might be sharing bed space with your friend or your sibling. If you’re in this situation, you can purge things that you don’t need and keep them for sending to recycling shops. Sort all cardboards and keep them in a recyclable and biodegradable bin. You can all do this for old receipts, tickets and used printed material. You can also sell recyclable materials such as cans, plastic containers and paper. •  Maximize your closet space If you own a closet or wardrobe, you can use it to sort your apparel and other personal things. Stacking order: Basket (Contains things aren’t always used) Hanged clothing Drawer  Shoes Clean digital clutter Likewise, clutter isn’t only physical but also digital. Digital clutter refers to unorganized folders, photos, videos, and thumbnails that can turn your desktop into a digital version of an unkempt room. With different types of files just randomly scattered in your screen, it causes the same effect as of that physical clutter.  Don’t save your files on the desktop. Delete duplicate files. Categorize files - Make folders and label them.  Avoid using too many nested folders - This avoids a time-consuming searching and clicking on folders.  Use a non-distracting desktop theme - A non-distracting and low memory theme is good for your eyes and your computer’s memory. Organize computer files with these two systems: Date based and name-based. Use cloud backup - In case of computer trouble or power outages, you can always retrieve your files anytime and anywhere. Some of the best cloud services include Dropbox, Microsoft and Google drive. Take exercise This is no brainer. You can’t work and be productive without being healthy. Staying at home for the long term without exercise can lead to weight gain such as stomach fat. You may also experience a languid or fatigue feeling. If you don’t have a home gym or exercise equipment, you can walk 30 minutes a day. Walking is an underrated exercise as most think that a real exercise should be in the gym - pulling that dumbbell. In fact, walking for 30 minutes can burn at least 30 calories depending on your weight. A proper walking exercise includes these effects: Healthy heart Helps joints and muscles Improves blood circulation   Eat healthy foods The more you stay at home without exercise and eat foods laden with sugar and unhealthy fats, the more you get a quick ride to the unhealthy club. Here are some of the healthy but budget-friendly foods: Sardines Citrus food Tofu Seeds: Watermelon, sesame, squash seeds Fibre-rich foods: Leafy vegetables and whole wheat bread Learn skills online There are tons of massive online courses or MOOCs on the internet. Some are free and some are paid. Niches comprise web development, data analysis, grammar, foreign languages, writing, speech and graphics. You can earn certificates that you can imbed in your portfolio, print on a special paper or include in your resume. Online schools can help you brush up your existing skills. Alison   Coursera  Edukart Edx.org Futurelearn Iversity Khan academy Saylor.org The open university Udacity Udemy   Read physical and digital books Books are still a mine of knowledge even though ebooks and tablets are common things to read info. You could have a dozen or hundreds of books on your bookshelf. Reading books can help you practice your reading skills and comprehension. You can also find a vast number of ebooks on the internet. They are available in PDF, ePub and word format. Some people say that physical/tangible books are faster to read than digital books (e-books) and don't cause eye strain.   Designate a home office A working space must be free from distraction and noise. It should be ventilated but not overly exposed to bright sunlight that can cause glaring in your laptop and extra monitor screen. Your table should be sturdy enough to hold your computer and spacious enough to support your palms and arms.  What you need: Computer desk Laptop or desktop computer - Minimum specs of i3 or i5 and 4GB RAM depending on your work. Adequate lighting - The lighting should be enough to protect your eyes against eye strain from the computer screen. Headset with noise cancellation - You’ll likely converse over Skype or Slack. Rotating office chair or high-quality urethane chair (499 php) from the supermarket High-speed internet - 25 Mbps Extra pocket wifi with load or your smartphone’s hotspot function in case of internet outages Surge protector Extra monitor - This is ideal if your laptop screen is small. An extra monitor can increase your productivity and eliminate browser tab switching. Likewise, you can open more docs and apps and view them at the same time. Mouse rest - A pad made from rubber and to reduce the risk of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) which is a condition that causes numbness, tingling and pain in arms and hands. CTS is caused by resting your hand and arm on the table surface.   Protect confidentiality It’s likely when the lockdown started, you agreed with your company’s policies on confidentiality - that is to protect information related to your company’s trade secrets and all the things inside a laptop. Confidentiality policies depend on a company’s industry. Some are strict and others are lax when they have less confidential info. For example, Call centre companies are reluctant to let their employees work from home because of sensitive data such as social security numbers and credit cards. If you are working from home using your company’s laptop, make sure that you only have access by using an alpha-numeric password designated by your HR. Some of the sensitive information: Standard operating procedure Names of clients Content management system (Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal) passwords Email passwords Video conferencing app passwords  Take a regular break No matter how you’re dedicated or hard-working, you’ll always come at a point where your body tells you to quit and take rest. The reason is you don’t have an unlimited supply of dopamine (a hormone neurotransmitter that lets you feel pleasure). The more you work for longer hours, the more your productivity plummets. A way to take a break while staying productive is to use the Pomodoro technique. Use a timer such as your smartphone or dedicated alarm clock. 1 Hour Learning/working 15-minute break 1 Hour Learning/working 15-minute break   Minimize distraction Distractions can slow down your progress and decrease your productivity. To minimize distraction, follow the Pomodoro technique or set aside a break. Top distractions include: Phone alerts Social media (Facebook, Twitter) Emails Frequent eating Cluttered workspace Improper desk chair posture  Non-ergonomic workspace Procrastination Being hungry You can minimize distractions by: Splitting tasks into sections Eating a proper meal  Taking frequent breaks Put your phone into silent mode Rewarding yourself Working in a comfortable table and chair

Skills refer to a combo of talent and knowledge needed to complete a task or job. Let’s say you work as a website developer, your skills make up HTML, CSS, Javascript and libraries such as Jquery, Angular, Parsley (a javascript form validation library not the herb) and Bootstrap. On the other side, you may work as a kitchen commissary and your skills are various knife cuts, mise en place (preparation), cold kitchen, hot kitchen and costing.  When you change careers and you found using the same skill in your new job, then that’s a transferable skill. Even if you go for a career change such as from Statistician to Search Engine Optimizer and vice versa, you’ll still use one or two more of your skills.    Why know about transferable skills Knowing transferable skills allows you to: Identify your strengths and weaknesses Improve your skills set Capitalize on that skill for use in the second job  Categorize your skill Make career change decisions   Two kinds of transferable skills: Hard and soft skills Hard skills Hard skills are easily quantified because they are measured by educational measurement tests such as matching type, true or false, and reading comprehension tests. They are also called technical skills - specific language, device, computer programming languages, and software. Soft skills Soft skills, although they can be gauged by some personality tests, are hard to measure, because they are abstract quantifiably vague. They are skills that are not usually taught in classrooms or included in a curriculum. Soft skills Hard Skills Asserting Accounting Counselling Drafting Creativity Languages  Emotional intelligence (withholding emotional outbursts, listening, empathizing)  Painting Negotiating Programming languages (HTML, CSS, Java, Javascript, SQL) Self-discipline Typing Time management Welding   How Hard and Soft skills become transferrable Your soft and hard skills become transferrable when you found yourself using them in a second job/career. Your soft transferrable skills are always transferrable in jobs that need human interaction, even on the internet and home-based work and among different types of jobs (bartender, web developer, cook, foreman, engineer, welder).  Your hard transferrable skills are specific in one job (inventory control for warehousemen and cooking for cooks. Hard skills become more transferrable across related or partially related jobs and industry (IT-Staff vs Warehouse IT Staff, Web developer vs SEO Manager).   Hard transferable skills between partially related jobs In this illustration, a person who is an IT staff can apply the same skills in the second job as shown by the skills set in red and vice versa. The skills set in black are specific to that work while those in red are hard transferable skills. If you apply in a second job that is more related or partially related to your previous job, it’s more likely that you’ll use most of your hard skills and all soft skills.     Soft Transferable skills between two unrelated jobs Employers value soft skills since they are always sought in a work that needs human interaction or team building. Organizations use soft skills across different types of jobs. The texts in red are soft skills, those in black are hard skills. For example, if you change careers, such as from cook to a web developer or vice versa, you can apply the same soft transferable skills and spreadsheet skills (food costing for cooks).   

People who have known office romance or office dating describe it as a game where two lovers communicate their subtle interests until they become united through an informal or formal ceremony. Some companies frown upon love team workers. Companies that are buttoned-up tend to have stricter policies while media and IT companies are lax about office romance. Whatever your reasons for dating a coworker, it will help if you’re aware of what may go wrong if you spilt the beans or work while in a thorny relationship.   Pros: The positive side A dating opportunity - It can provide another opportunity for meeting a potential boyfriend or girlfriend. So, here you can add an office to find your Mr.Right or Miss Right.   Increased motivation/productivity - Seeing your lover every day can boost your motivation. It makes you feel zealous to work even during pressured and boring times. Who doesn’t want to see his/her crush daily? Now, being with your crush buddy can make a good vibe and thus make you want to stay in an office for long hours.   Your soulmate could be your working colleague - Successful office romances can lead to lifetime partners that work together towards the company’s goal and that can be a powerful team. Shared or related interests can unite couples - Mr. A is a web developer and Miss B is a graphic designer and vice versa. Cons: What could go wrong in an office romance The reason why some companies frown upon office romance is that dating between coworkers can affect performance and productivity. Things can go wrong if you and your love flame’s relationship break apart.  Stalking - Stalking refers to the repeated surveillance of one person to another person or group. If he/she consistently follows and watches you daily before and after working hours, and his/her behaviour makes you uncomfortable then that’s stalking. Stalking is one of the results of ongoing or failed relationships.   Breakups and broken heart - Seeing your ex daily at work after a fresh break up and even after months of a failed relationship is a tough experience. Yes, it’s awkward and it can quickly lose your work motivation as fast as a battery loses its charge. If you’re some sort of a guy or gal used to handle rejections then you can still survive the emotional storm while working towards your organization’s goal.   Favouritism - Your colleagues may perceive you as having favouritism whether he/she is a coworker, a subordinate or boss.  Favouritism can lead to issues such as office politics and back fighting such as manager - subordinate relationships.   Gossips - Even if it's kept secret, someone who could be your friend, a workmate or neighbour may reveal it.   Decreased productivity - Have you experienced being heartbroken? Being in that situation affects the same part of the brain during physical pain (being stung by a bee or pricked by a needle). According to medicalnewstoday - the same areas of the brain are affected in the presence of emotional and physical pain. Getting rejected could affect your self-esteem or self-worth and that could result in decreased productivity. Even if you try to mask it with liquor or any mantra while on your duty, the emotional pain of losing your love interest will always resonate in your head before, during and after your work.   Distraction - Yes, you got involved with a potential Mr. or Ms. Right and that means you may do some flirtations such as exchanging emoticons and emails. If your company is liberal with such policies then it could zap some minutes of your productivity.  Workplace Romance: A sample survey The Society For Human Resource Management made a survey of (2013) detailing organization/company response, types of office romance and the action taken by the organization. Here is a detailed survey. Source: SHRM. (2020). Workplace Romance. [online] The SHRM revealed that employers got stricter regarding office romance policies as seen in the increasing percentage of bar graphs from the year 2001. Breaking such policy could result in counselling, written reprimand, termination, removal from the position, transfer to another department, and suspension.    Why do some companies forbid workplace romance? While many companies are lax with regard to office romances, there are other companies who are strict. The reasons are: Perceived favouritism among co-workers Possible sexual harassment claims Possible legal action against the company Retaliation resulting from a failed relationship Decreased morale due to heart-breaks Possible leakage of confidential info such as trade secrets, recipes, salaries, list of vendors and business practices.  What to do when you’re involved in an office romance Ask human resources - Ask an HR personnel or supervisor regarding the company’s policy. Is the company lax or against it? And if they forbid workplace romance, what are the consequences? If your organization has no qualms against your romantic overtures, then it’s Ok. Dating is a mind game where both parties express signals that could mean interest or not and those mind games can linger in your mind for days and months. Keep it discreet - If you’re currently involved or eyeing someone for romantic movies, keep it secret or discreet or make sure that the person who knows your love affair is a trusted friend and not a blabbermouth and avoid displaying public display of affection (PDA). Take advantage of technology but be careful of using social media because posts can reach anyone. Show your romantic interest during off-office hours - You can still keep your darling interested by dating during day-offs and leaves. If you want to communicate your interest to your co-worker, make it discreet as much as possible.  Be ready for breakup or rejection - Whether you are a party involved in dating or someone wooing a girl or boy, be ready how to handle rejection and breakup because dating will not always end up as you wanted. Factors such as third party, temperament, personality, and the economy are life facts that affect the dating game. Maintain professionalism - Maintaining professionalism means still following the company’s policies and being in cordial relationships, even recent break-up. It’s leaving your emotional baggage behind while still showing up to perform duties.   Office romance: Should I take part in it? Dating someone in your team or your coworkers may or might carry risks depending on your company’s policy, culture and size. Risks refer to the possibility of sabotaging your job/career or affecting your concentration and performance. In the Philippines, rules on office romance can be vague as rules vary although the Filipino culture and society tolerate workplace romance. If your company is lax about office dating then you may go ahead in finding your possible fiancé. But if your company is strict and forbids office romance, then you can be discrete or stick with that policy.  Whether a company is lax or strict about romances - a workplace is always a place where people expect a level of decency (no hookup at office). Being professional at all times can save your time and day.