Reality of unemployment not so entertaining

"You're fired!" Those two words so bombastically spewed out by Donald Trump each week at a contestant in The Apprentice reality TV show might make great television, but it's a lot less entertaining when you're the recipient of a firing in the real world.

So how can you inoculate yourself from being fired? While there are obviously no guarantees against losing your job for any number of reasons, Richard C. Busse offers 12 steps in his book Fired, Laid Off or Forced Out that you can take to tip the scales in your favour in almost any work situation.

• • Discover ways to like your co-workers. Look for attributes you can respect in your colleagues. If you send signals you don't like them, guess what ... they're not likely to like you either. It's simple playground politics.

• • Communicate often with your boss. Let him or her know you understand your own role in the company as well as theirs. If you are not getting along with your supervisor, then find a way to fix it. "In most supervisors' eyes it's up to the employee to rebuild that relationship, not them," says Busse. "And so what you do is pick a safe issue that you can approach your supervisor on once a week for three weeks and you are prepared to accept whatever advice your boss gives. And you go up to him and you ask him, "What do you think about this?" So that the objective is, leave the boss thinking I can work with that person." If you have a lousy boss and fantasizing about getting fired so you can sue for a lot of money ... forget about it! Busse says: "On the probability of winning an employment lawsuit, I can tell you that they're difficult to win."

• Socializing with boss and co-workers is good

• • Never turn down an invitation. If you're asked to join your boss or co-workers at a social event, go! Just make sure you don't make a fool of yourself by over-indulging on alcohol or food. A drunken incident leaves a lasting impression ... but the wrong one.
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• • Don't be afraid to socialize your boss. Co-workers might give you a hard time for 'sucking up' or brown-nosing but consider buying her or him lunch from time-to-time. "Unless your boss would be offended by the gesture," warns Busse.
• Socialize with your colleagues. If no one else will take the initiative, seize it yourself to plan a barbecue or bowling night.
• Make your co-workers feel good about themselves and their work. Appreciate the efforts your colleagues make and praise them publicly in a staff meeting or directly to your boss. It never hurts to spread the credit for success to others who deserve it.
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• • Remember your friends inside the company. If a specific person recruited you, let them know how it's going and express your gratitude for their help.

• When it comes to gossip, keep your mouth shut

• • Never violate a confidence! Period. End of story. People often gossip around the water cooler, but remember that whatever you say about a person will always come back to help or hurt you. Be the person everyone knows they can trust.
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• • Never refuse an assignment if you can help it. Every task builds experience and confidence for the next step in your career.
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• • Know your supervisor's expectations and work hard to meet, or better still, exceed them at every opportunity.
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• • Never speak badly of your company, boss or co-workers. Your words will always come back to haunt you!
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• • And finally, if you are unhappy at your job, don't broadcast to anyone at work. It's easy for your verbal cues to prompt your boss to cure your unhappiness with an involuntary search for new employment. It's always much tougher to find new work when you're unemployed.