11-15-2011, 07:48 PM
I'm so sorry to hear you received this news. 
I agree with Marianne's advice to take a job offer if it comes along, and burbuja's networking and resume advice is great.
To support the suggestion to start applying now and take something if it is a good fit for you financially and culturally, the severance pay you will receive at the end is likely a few weeks or a month's wages. Depending on the state in which you live, a severance package could reduce or eliminate your right to draw unemployment income while you search after your job has ended. You would need to search your particular state's handling to know how or if it will affect you. Even if it does not, if you wait until the end to start searching, like Marianne said, you will be pounding the pavement with everyone else that held out for that last check, likely prolonging your search and the amount of time that severance check and any unemployment pay must support you.
I will save the "don't let it get you down" talk because it is only natural to feel stunned and scared, but I will offer the advice to be persistent (but not too much so) when applying for and following up on your job hunt, and when you get called in for interviews, do your very best to stay positive about your working experience. It is so easy to get stuck in the negative given this news, but those potential employers want to hear about what a great worker you will be for them (and you will be!) While working on your resume, try to make a list of positive contributions you have made for your current employer, things they did that made you feel valued (I know that might be difficult right now, but it is a common question at interviews), and various other common interview questions. Look up the various lists on Google and form answers for each, then take a day or so away before reading back through them to make sure they are honest but not colored by the feelings this layoff has no doubt brought on.
Work on your sales pitch before you get called for an interview, so those jitters do not interfere. . That is what interviews are, afterall; you are selling your talents and skills in competition with other job seekers. Your sales pitch should show that your 20 years experience is a benefit; you've been there, done that, and have a few t-shirts so your onboarding and training will be much easier on the company, so sell it. It sounds silly, but practice answering those oh-so-annoying questions in front of a mirror so you can work on showing confidence, a pleasant attitude, and how knowledgeable you are. (I'm serious about the mirror. You will feel like a goofball, but it does help. Better yet, record on your phone or a camcorder so you can't instantly see your own expressions and use playback for a more realistic picture of expressions, appearance of confidence, etc.)
Again, I am so sorry, but you will get through it.
I agree with Marianne's advice to take a job offer if it comes along, and burbuja's networking and resume advice is great.To support the suggestion to start applying now and take something if it is a good fit for you financially and culturally, the severance pay you will receive at the end is likely a few weeks or a month's wages. Depending on the state in which you live, a severance package could reduce or eliminate your right to draw unemployment income while you search after your job has ended. You would need to search your particular state's handling to know how or if it will affect you. Even if it does not, if you wait until the end to start searching, like Marianne said, you will be pounding the pavement with everyone else that held out for that last check, likely prolonging your search and the amount of time that severance check and any unemployment pay must support you.
I will save the "don't let it get you down" talk because it is only natural to feel stunned and scared, but I will offer the advice to be persistent (but not too much so) when applying for and following up on your job hunt, and when you get called in for interviews, do your very best to stay positive about your working experience. It is so easy to get stuck in the negative given this news, but those potential employers want to hear about what a great worker you will be for them (and you will be!) While working on your resume, try to make a list of positive contributions you have made for your current employer, things they did that made you feel valued (I know that might be difficult right now, but it is a common question at interviews), and various other common interview questions. Look up the various lists on Google and form answers for each, then take a day or so away before reading back through them to make sure they are honest but not colored by the feelings this layoff has no doubt brought on.
Work on your sales pitch before you get called for an interview, so those jitters do not interfere. . That is what interviews are, afterall; you are selling your talents and skills in competition with other job seekers. Your sales pitch should show that your 20 years experience is a benefit; you've been there, done that, and have a few t-shirts so your onboarding and training will be much easier on the company, so sell it. It sounds silly, but practice answering those oh-so-annoying questions in front of a mirror so you can work on showing confidence, a pleasant attitude, and how knowledgeable you are. (I'm serious about the mirror. You will feel like a goofball, but it does help. Better yet, record on your phone or a camcorder so you can't instantly see your own expressions and use playback for a more realistic picture of expressions, appearance of confidence, etc.)
Again, I am so sorry, but you will get through it.
![[-]](https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/images/collapse.png)