Recent news reports about a slow-down in the economy, and the spate of mergers and acquisitions across organizations, has led to several people 'Senior and Junior' pressing the panic button with their careers.

Look at this scenario: Ram (fictitious name), working for company X for the last 2 years in a middle to senior position. All of a sudden, there is a bid to acquire X, and murmers begin that the pink slip days are nearing. What does one do??? Actively, if not desperately try to get into calmer waters. Finally manage to wangle a good role in a relatively safer haven, Y only to find: that this company is also up for grabs!!! Helpless and screaming -- with no support system or Godfather, Ram has jumped from the proverbial 'frying pan into the fire'.

This is becoming an increasingly common phenomena and provoked me to take a step back and analyze this drama which keeps getting repeated in people's lives. Having looked at multiple scenarios, I thought it would be a good idea to put down a checklist which will help a person handle a potential upheaval in his/her organization:

If your answer to all the 5 questions, is broadly a YES, then it may be prudent to 'Wait and Watch' rather than jump the gun. The answers to the above suggest that the acquisition is probably in the best interests of your company and your goodwill should serve you well in the new scenario.

However, should some the answers be negative, then you may well want to explore options, while keeping in mind some of the above caveats - "To prevent the frying pan to fire syndrome":

While there are no guarantees in life, some of the above questions will ensure that you atleast do not consciously increase your exposure to the M&A trap. Evidence suggests, that companies which are growing at a healthy rate and still building market share are less vulnerable compared to companies - 'large or small' which have plateaud in terms of growth.

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