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In my last article, I wrote about how you and your company can save money by utilizing Lotus Notes and Domino and all of its strengths. This month, I want to focus on what you, a Lotus Notes and Domino professional, can do to keep yourself employable and weather the current economic storm.

If you are one of the lucky ones, you still have a job. That doesn't mean you should rest on your laurels. There are many things you can and should do to keep you a valuable member of your current team, or prepare you for life after your current job.

If you are one of the unlucky ones, you are currently looking. Hopefully you can use some of the stuff in this article to help you in the job hunt.

Learn Other Skills

In the Notes and Domino world I've seen a lot of specialization over the years. Many people are just Notes developers, or just Domino administrators. These people tend to be experts in that one aspect of Notes while eschewing most other talents. Nowadays, that is a huge liability as many companies are looking to get more out of their employees for less.

This means that you need to learn more things BEFORE your company asks it of you. If you are developer in Notes, you should really learn AJAX web development, Java and up-and-coming technologies like Adobe Flex.

If you are an administrator, then you need to be an expert in the OS your servers run on. You also need to learn as much as you can about network architecture, network security, and firewalls. Many places, especially larger companies, have one team that works on the network, one that works on the OS, and then the team that works on Domino. You have to resist the urge to avoid the pieces you are not generally privy to. You should try to learn every aspect as much as possible.

Granted, you may not need it now, but what happens if you are let go? Only knowing Domino will really limit the amount of jobs you are qualified for.

You're even a more valuable asset if you can administer and program for Lotus Notes and Domino. It doubles your opportunities for Lotus-based jobs and can even allow you to be the only Lotus person at smaller companies.

I know it's hard to find time to learn new skills, but if you don't you WILL pay for it later. Turn off the TV, step away from Facebook and start playing around with other technologies. Learn as much as possible, and it will help you immensely in any job hunts you may have to endure.

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