US unemployment rates are higher than usual and there’s little reason to believe that trend will reverse itself any time soon.  We’ll see a new jobs report today that shows an additional upswing in unemployment and the folks at Goldman Sachs are predicting a 9% jobless rate by the fourth quarter of next year.

In light of that creepy news, plenty of people are beginning to worry about their personal job security.  The idea of losing your income is frightening and it leads many to wonder what they can do to protect themselves from unemployment.  Is there anything you can do to keep your job at a time like this?

Many people will tell you that you can save your job.  They’ll offer a series of recommendations designed to keep you firmly entrenched in your existing position while others line up at the unemployment office.  Some of their suggestions include:

Be a darn good employee. You’re less likely to lose your job if you’re really, really good at it.  It’s hard to fire the person who works the hardest.  If you’re making money for the company, the company will want to keep you.  So, working like mad, showing up early, staying late, and doing all of the things that a perfect employee would do should insulate you from job loss.

Become indispensable. If the company can’t operate without you, they can’t can you.  If replacing you would cause undue stress and turmoil or would involve massive expense or reorganization, you can feel secure in your position.  Even the dumbest manager won’t yank the engine out of car, right?

Get smarter and smarter. Make sure you’re well-informed.  Take advantage of training opportunities.  Sneak off to night school and get that BA you bailed out on a semester early.  Collect initials behind your name and framed certificates and credentials for your office wall.  They won’t can the smart ones.  The smart ones keep their jobs.

Those are three examples of decent advice about keeping your job.  If you’re a good worker who is critical to daily operations with a high level of industry knowledge and training you’ll be less likely to see the ax at your throat than if you’re a lazy non-contributor whose sole source of education involves losing those electronic trivia games at the neighborhood bar.

However, you shouldn’t believe that doing these things will bulletproof you.  If your company is in all-out, panic-driven, hysterical, on-the-brink-of-going-under cost-cutting, being a marginally better cubicle dweller than the guy next to you probably isn’t going to give you a lot of security.

Plus, being indispensable is easier said than done.  Plenty of people have believed that they had nothing to fear as the HR department’s grim reaper roamed the halls, only to find themselves filling out unemployment benefit forms the next afternoon.  Most of us believe we’re a little more important than we actually are.  Everyone is replaceable and even if they weren’t, it requires a tremendous leap of faith to think that the hiring/firing decision makers will recognize the difference between the must-haves and the optionals.

And more than one cardboard box has been lugged home weighted down with framed diplomas.  Being the smartest guy or gal  in the room can’t hurt you all that much, but sheepskins won’t stand in the way of the unemployment guillotine.  Sometimes, it seems like a good idea to can Mr. or Ms. Smartypants in order to cut costs or to make sure that there isn’t someone “too smart” around to see what’s actually happening in a troubled work environment.

The moral of the story?  It’s three-fold.

First, have a Plan B.  Set aside some cash to hold you over if you get the ax and have some idea of where you might go if you’re the recipient of a pink slip.  Escape from Corporate America reminds us:

So yes, you should keep performing well. This is no time to slack off. But stop gossiping, worrying, and biting your nails. Instead, use your spare time to step up your passive job search efforts and start looking for your next position. Even if you don’t end up needing a new job, it’s always a good idea to keep your options open.

Second, realize that there are certain things that you simply cannot control.  You can influence your employment situation, but you can’t control it outright.  There are larger forces at play and unless you’re the person on top of the corporate flowchart, you don’t wield the power necessary to guarantee continued employment for yourself.

Joyce McGreevy from Salon wrote an excellent article about how all of the things you’re supposed to do to avoid downsizing don’t always work.  Although “How to Keep Your Job” is over ten years old, it’s very timely reading today:

Remember, once you have a job, keeping it is easy. Just be a team player, stand out from the pack, put on a happy face, look serious, be innovative, don’t rock the boat, consider all options, stay focused, communicate openly, keep your own counsel, treat your staff like family, keep your personal life out of the workplace, swim with the sharks and keep your powder dry.