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Sarah Needleman wrote a very good article on Dec. 9 in the WSJ: Explaining Your Layoff to a Job Recruiter. She provides a few excellent pieces of advice.

1 – don’t be too focused on a geographic area. “cast a wide net”, Needleman recommends. Don’t rule out ANYTHING. All industries, sizes of companies, etc. are fair game and should be included in your search.

2 – network. If you don’t know recruiters, get introduced to some. Better to be recommended than cold call them.

“Studies show that referrals lead to the highest number of job placements, so devote the majority of your search time to networking,” as quoted from Annie Stevens in the article. Stevens is an executive coach out of Boston.

3 – Don’t be bitter about your job loss. DO NOT BLAME THE ECONOMY.

“There’s no need to even point out the fact that you’ve been laid off.”

So many people have been laid off and will be laid off that this will not hurt you. It will if you let it and keep bringing it up.

4 – Act like you don’t need it. Do not “OVEREXTEND GRATITUDE.”

I’ve been doing this – and I am correcting. It is like going to a casino. You have to act like you don’t need it and they will give you stuff for free.

5 – Don’t discuss a pay cut of more than 20%. This will signal that something is VERY VERY wrong. Know your worth.

6 – have an explanation as to why you were laid off.

I do have this. My former company has to focus on its core business right now. I was running an alternative business line to supplement the core. The core is their bread and butter.