Bouncing Back From A Pink Slip

Scot Diuguid, 59, an automotive training manager, says he was"blindsided" when he was laid off six months ago. "At the beginningof the year I was told to expect another unpaid furlough, so when Igot the ax I was shocked, then angry," he says.

Diuguid describes himself as "a typical male whose identity istied up in my job." With his work taken away, he says he had to facescary questions, such as "Who am I? How will I spend the rest of mylife? How long can I support myself without a paycheck?"

"I knew I should be looking for a job but when I sat down to sendout resumes my frustration soared," says Diuguid. "There was noescaping my joblessness." He sought diversions such as reading thenewspaper all morning and eating.

"When people lose a job it is surprising how little time most lookfor work," observes psychologist Joyce Brothers. "The more hours youdevote to a job search early on, the less scary it becomes."

Regardless of age or experience, many laid-off workers are havingto do more research about potential employers and make moreconcessions regarding working conditions than they did just a fewyears ago.

Two of the country's largest job-placement firms, in fact, predictthat the job-hunting picture will not improve anytime soon.

So if you are pounding the pavement -- real or in cyberspace --what can you do to speed your search for a good-fitting job? Here areseveral strategies that employers and search firms say have helpedlaid-off workers find new jobs:

Do not put off a job search until after the New Year. Since manywould-be job hunters stay on the sidelines because they believe themyth that no one hires during the holidays, there will be lesscompetition for new jobs.

And savvy job hunters find it easier to speak with a potentialemployer on the telephone during the holidays because they can bypassvacationing executive assistants and secretaries who would usuallyscreen their boss's calls.

Get over your embarrassment. Being downsized no longer carries astigma. "Be honest with interviewers and say to them that 'My firmrestructured and many positions, including mine, were eliminated,' "advises Brita Askey, global account manager of Drake Beam Morin, aNew York-based outplacement firm. Askey also says you should ask yourformer boss what he intends to tell a prospective new employer aboutyou. "Usually it's only the position held, length of employment andmaybe your salary," Askey says.

Resist bad-mouthing your former boss.

Don't let fear or desperation cloud your judgment. Even if yourself-esteem is plummeting and your bills are mounting, keep your eyesand ears open for important clues before accepting an offer. "Peopleare so anxious to get a job after being laid off," Askey says, "thatthey never ask vital questions," such as: How long did the priorperson hold it? With whom will I interact? How will my performance bemeasured? What help will I get to achieve goals?

Analyze your past successes to know what you want and need from ajob, as well as what you can offer a new employer. What skills didyou use that would transfer to other projects and companies? Are yougood at negotiating? Are you politically savvy? After identifyingyour strengths and interests, sort through job openings to find thosethat could complement them.

When it comes to job openings, who you know is at least asimportant as what you know. "Less than 10 percent of people get jobsthrough the Internet or ads," says Askey. "Up to 60 percent arethrough personal contacts, so spend most of your time where you arelikely to get results."

Make new business contacts by attending meetings of professionalsocieties and your college's local alumni group. Speak with friendswho work at the firms you are interested in to try to get the skinnyon the corporate culture. With any luck they may volunteer to becomeyour "inside salesman," talking up your strength to those in aposition to hire new employees.

A well-crafted resume will not get you a job, but a poorly writtenor unfocused one can knock you out of the running. The purpose of aresume is not to get a job offer but to pique an employer's interestenough to call you in for an interview. So target a few firms insteadof sending generic resumes to dozens of companies.

And be brief. "If your resume is longer than one page, that firstpage had better read like 'War and Peace,' " cautions CNN's LouDobbs.

Don't merely list job duties. Stress solutions you developed andimplemented at your former jobs, showing skills that you used that anew employer would value.

Since many resumes are scanned by a computer before a person viewsits content, don't get disqualified on a technicality. Avoidunderlining words, italics or fancy fonts that make computer scanningdifficult.

When responding to a job ad, use as many words as possible fromthe ad. Include a concise, customized cover letter, consisting of twoor three paragraphs followed by a few bullets, advises Askey. "Beginwith 'The ad in the paper looked interesting because of myexperience,' then briefly state why. The bullets should highlightyour expertise."

Don't send your resume to the name listed in an ad. Call thecompany and get the name (and correct spelling) of the person headingthe department, such as marketing or information technology, and sendyour resume to that person.

Understand the privacy pitfalls of an online job search. If youare posting your resume to a Web site, realize that it is theequivalent of taping it to a tree in the town square. Anyone can seeit, so omit your home address (rent a post office box temporarily),omit salary history, and use a throwaway e-mail address (such as afree e-mail address from Yahoo, Hotmail or Mail.com). Never includeyour Social Security number on any resume.

Know your worth. Shortly after complaining about her assignments,Lisa Jensen, 23, lost her job as a marketing trainee. "For six monthsI did whatever they asked of me, no matter how boring," she says. "Ispent days keying numbers into spreadsheets or updating Web pages.What a waste of time!" During her current job search she says she is"grilling interviewers about daily duties and how quickly I canadvance through the company."

What should a job pay? Askey suggests looking at newspaper ads forguidance. "If the salary range that a potential employer suggests istoo low, ask for perks, such as an education allowance, child careassistance, flexible work hours or to work from home. It's allnegotiable."

Don't leave references to chance. Ask former employers if you canuse their name before giving it out. Jog their memory by sending themannotated resumes. And since nobody is perfect, include an innocuousshortcoming that you have ("I used to be a perfectionist") andconcrete ways that you are overcoming it ("Lately I have beendelegating more work to my staff").

Practice before your first interview. Do a mock interview(preferably videotaped) with a friend who will point out interviewflubs that you may not realize. For instance: Is your eye contactweak? Do you have distracting mannerisms, such as clearing yourthroat, twirling your hair or repeatedly say "um"? Consciously workto eliminate these distractions before interview day.

Learn to speak in sound bites as though you were being interviewedon a television program. A successful interview should be a two-wayconversation between you and the interviewer. So don't monopolize theconversation. On the other hand, unless you are asked "yes" or "no"questions, give more than one- or two-word answers.

Realize that misery doesn't love company, it loves miserablecompany. Don't let others drag you into a pity party. "Half myfriends were without jobs and the others were in perilous positionsand, in hindsight, spending time with them was not productive," saysDiuguid. "To dig myself out I needed to set goals and strategies tomeet them. I also started exercising and began sleeping and feelingbetter."

One regret still haunts Diuguid: "After losing my job I shouldhave gone on vacation."

But if you do get a pink slip, Brothers cautions against hastydepartures. "You bring all your worries with you but don't gain anynew perspective," she says. "Rather than a vacation, a job offer,even for a job that you don't want, is the best morale boost."