Hi Beth,

I was laid off last July as the markets were also in severe decline and unemployment began climbing. I'm very marketable and was prepared for any contingency...or so I thought. I got a nice severance package (3 mos salary) and outplacement services through Right Mgmt which helped. I hoped to be back to work right away and pocket much of the severance. Unfortunately it has been 9 months and I'm still not back to where I was before.

I did some part-time work and some temping through unemployment, but was off most of the time just job hunting and networking. As unemployment was running out I got a job in sales with a very low salary until commissions can exceed them (hopefully within 6 to 12 mos if I stick with it). That's where I am now.

I would recommend that everyone always have their resume ready for opportunities as they come along or the need arises (layoff/firing). I got professional help on my resume from Right, but I'm still not happy with it (mostly because it didn't get me a job right away, but some of that is my career path and circumstances). I updated all my resume info on the job boards and emailed resumes to my networks.

I'm better off than many of my colleagues who also lost their jobs and are still not back to work. The experience can be devastating and the longer you go without getting another job can begin to erode ones self-esteem and confidence. You really need to stay positive, productive, and network. I have a good network, and they were helpful with providing leads and referrals, but none materialized for me. Indeedx was a good web site for me. I also have resumes on monster.com and careerbuilder.com. I also systematically looked through the job boards of every company in my industry that had offices in my area.

I'm President of my college alumni association and am networked to over x people on LinkedIn. So many alums and colleagues were supportive and encouraging me along. some even followed up weeks later just to ask how my search was going. Some of these people I only know by name so there are a lot of thoughtful people out there willing to help any way they can. That was inspiring me, and I too would share opportunitities with my colleagues who were looking for jobs that weren't the right fit for me, but may have been for them. I only had about an interview a month. Maybe I should have been more aggressive in my search, or looked more outside my industry. Hindsight is 20/20. I had my hands full with some personal issues (my father's dying and death, marital conflicts) thoughout this time so I had to balance my emotional/family needs with my financial and professional ones.

Best advice I could give is stay positive, productive, take advantage of electronic tools and communications, and network, network, network. I've also heard doing volunteer work while your off is good for the mind, soul and is something to fill your time that you can tell an employer about. Taking some classes or reading up on some professional subjects are a good use of the time. Hope that helps...feel free to write if you have any other specific questions.

Ed

Submitted by Edward Novick