The September 11th attack | Coping with the aftermath
Keeping a cool head matters if you lose your job

By Anita Bruzzese
Gannett News Service

If you lose your job, there are some steps that can get you back on the road to employment and keep your spirits up. Among them:

• Don't burn any bridges. That means when you get the notice you are canned, don't stomp into the CEO's office and throw a fit. Don't throw eggs at the human resource director's house.

Stay calm so that you can see if you can negotiate a settlement. If not, at least leave the building armed with names of contacts: co-workers, clients, suppliers. These will come in handy later when you start networking.

Be professional and go out with your head up. You never can tell when rehirings will begin and your name will come up because you maintained a good relationship.

• Remember to breathe. Don't go home and try to act like nothing happened.

This is when you need the support of family and friends the most, and everyone will have to pull together. While your brain is scrambled from the shock of being without work, keep yourself busy by reviewing your household budget, ideas you have to earn money on your own, etc.

This is key: Be good to yourself. Eat right, get enough rest and exercise. You can't look for work when you're a physical wreck.

• Realize you don't have all the answers. Talk to others about what is happening. If the company offered job counseling, take advantage of it even if you feel you know everything. Sometimes the most obvious steps elude even the smartest of us.

• Do your homework. Understand what is going on with the economy, not only in the United States, but worldwide. Track trends in business and in your industry. This will help you see how you are part of a bigger picture and give you clues about where growth is headed so that is where you concentrate your efforts. This will help you when applying for a job, because you will be operating from knowledge, not ignorance.

• Network like crazy. Let everyone from your son's soccer coach to the contacts you made through your job know you are looking for work. Ask each person if they might have one or two names of other people you could contact. And remember to stay open to new ideas or paths in your job search.

• Refine your skills. Your old resume from five years ago isn't going to cut it in today's market. Things change and you need to refine and update your resume and interviewing skills. The Internet is loaded with career sites, and there are dozens of books on the market designed to help you improve those skills.