Bulletproof Your Job: 4 Simple Strategies to Ride Out the Rough Times and Come Out On Top at Work

There's no doubt about it, today's workplace is an uncertain and treacherous territory. Newspaper headlines are proclaiming near record-high levels of unemployment, and, in these tough times, companies are making swift judgments about human capital.

The bottom line: No job is safe.

But there are tried and true ways to fight off sudden unemployment successfully, and the number one weapon in your arsenal is workplace expert and television and radio personality Stephen Viscusi's career manifesto, Bulletproof Your Job. Based on four simple strategies for dodging the layoff bullet and a long list of ways to implement these strategies, Bulletproof Your Job may save you from your worst enemy at work—which just so happens to be you.

Quite simply, observe these imperative rules:

Be visible. Be easy. Be useful. Be ready.

With plenty of distinct action items, dozens of anecdotal illustrations and examples, and lists and tips for adapting bulletproof strategies to your own situation, Bulletproof Your Job will show you how to leverage the black-and-white stuff—your title, salary, and tenure—with the gray stuff—your relationship with coworkers, visibility in the workplace, and ability to make your boss look good—to ward off the pink stuff—the dreaded layoff notice. While you're at it, you'll be creating a long-term strategy for job security and career advancement that ensures you'll never feel this vulnerable again.

Stephen Viscusi is an author, columnist and radio talk show host in the workplace genre. Viscusi is the author of two books in the workplace genre; his new HarperCollins' book is Bulletproof Your Job: 4 Simple Strategies to Ride Out the Rough Times and Come Out On Top at Work. Charles Gibson of ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson" calls Viscusi "America's Workplace Guru." Viscusi is a frequent contributor on the morning show circuit and NPR's "Talk of the Nation." Viscusi began his own career as a headhunter and is still involved as a consultant in executive search.