Get All Fired Up: Our Layoff Survival Guide

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AS A BUSINESS MANAGER at the D.C.-area offices of talent management firm Lee Hecht Harrison, Tya Bolton worked with companies that were downsizing to help transition staff being laid off. So when she was laid off in December of 2005, it seemed a little bit ironic.

"It shocked me, but only for about 30 minutes," says Bolton, 31. "After 30 minutes I was over it and already planning my next steps."

Thanks to her work experience, Bolton knew the next moves she needed to make. But for many others, it can sometimes be hard to get their careers back on track.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. economy lost 1.2 million jobs in the first 10 months of 2008. And based on the steady stream of bad news about American companies in dire straits, that number looks sure to rise.

So what should you do if you get a pink slip instead of a bonus this year? Can even a layoff have a silver lining?

Be ready: "Make sure you've got everyone's contact info away from the office," says Nancy Collamer, career consultant and founder of Layoffsurvivalguide.com. "A lot of people leave all that stuff at the office, and the day you get terminated, you get escorted out the door." Having your contact list at home helps you put out feelers faster once you're ready to start your job search.

Take some time: "Getting laid off is a loss, and people will go through the stages of loss," says Melissa Fireman, founder and CEO of career management firm Washington Career Services. "If they're still on anger, it's really not a good time to start interviewing."

If you still have hard feelings about your layoff, write a letter to your boss venting your frustrations. "Get all your anger out of your head and on paper, and then go in the backyard and bury it," says Marshall Brown, president of Marshall Brown & Associates, a local career and executive coaching firm. "If you're still carrying that anger around, ... that's going to come across."

Do your homework: Find out which companies you'd like to work for and assess if they'll likely be hiring soon.

"Once you've begun to identify companies," says Collamer, "set up Google alerts on them, so you know as soon as someone announces plans for an expansion."

Differentiate: When it comes to resumes these days, one size definitely doesn't fit all. "Don't print 25 or 30 copies of your resumé and plan to mail it out," says Lita Epstein, author of the forthcoming book, "Surviving a Layoff" (Adams Media, $9.95). "That's not the way jobs are gotten today."

Look at the job and see how your resumé compares. "It has to be tailored to the specific job using language from the job description," says Brown. Lots of companies use computer programs to scan resumés, so using keywords found in the job description can help your resumé land near the top of the pile.

Network, network, network: The old saying goes that it's not what you know, it's who you know. In today's job market, that's definitely true.

"I encourage folks to spend at least 80 percent of their job search time meeting people doing things they want to be doing," says Brown. "People hear about [openings] through their network."

After you get laid off, let people know what happened and that you're looking. Then expand your network by joining associations and alumni groups, scheduling informational interviews, and using online tools like LinkedIn and Facebook.

Find support: "Support groups can be very helpful in building your network and getting your mindset in a stronger place," says Epstein. Community centers, libraries, churches, and professional associations can help steer folks toward these groups. Sometimes, if a company goes through a massive layoff, former employees come together online. "When my husband was laid off, he set up a Yahoo group of other people in his field who had gotten laid off," says Collamer. "They'd post to the group job listings they'd heard about."

Explore alternatives: Consider internships and volunteering to maintain your skills while making contacts. Says Brown, "I know a number of folks who wound up being hired when a position opened up."

Many people use a layoff to explore a career change. Erika Dongre, 39, had been thinking about moving to the nonprofit sector. After she was laid off from Time Life in 2007, she made that switch. Now the associate director of direct response marketing at the American Diabetes Association, she's glad her layoff gave her the reason to explore other options.

"I decided that this was my chance ... to find what might be the thing that gets me more excited about going to work," she says. "Some people might not have that luxury. But a layoff is good chance to kind of reevaluate what you really want to do."

For Bolton, she decided to follow her dream of starting her own business. "I temped at a law firm for about six weeks before I realized that I ... was ready to take the plunge," says Bolton, who founded Exceptional Business Solutions, a business support firm, in 2006. "A lot of people are ashamed when they get laid off, but I took it and used it as an advantage."

Written by Express contributor Beth Luberecki
Photos by Regan Kireilis for Express; iStock