10 Hard Truths About Layoffs

"Layoffs provide a good time for reflection, a time to rethink who gets the privilege of having you work for them," says Rayona Sharpnack, founder and president of the Institute for Women's Leadership. "So don't frame the event as a personal failure. Losing a job doesn't make you a ne'er-do-well or a throwaway. Make yourself a promise that this time, you're going to find work that fits your terms. Ask yourself this: As the architect of your own life, as the creator of your own future, what are the criteria that you have for who gets the privilege of having you? That's a totally different -- and healthier -- mind-set."

A side note: Challenger says that opportunities still abound in the education, health-care, and energy industries -- none of which depends on the sale of banner advertising for revenue. Think outside the employment box. There are plenty of appealing options in less-hyped industries.

3. But don't be surprised if you are unemployed longer than you expected at first ...

Data on length of job search is contradictory: One study by Challenger, Gray & Christmas says that the first quarter of 2001 had the shortest median job-search time -- just 2.27 months -- in the firm's 15 years of tracking this index. But a more recent study by Drake Beam Morin says that the median length of time it takes to land a new job is starting to rise. Drake Beam Morin's data says that the average job search now clocks in at between 3 and 4 months, depending on industry and position.

Companies are taking longer to fill positions. Or they're postponing expansion plans that would have created new jobs.

Bottom line: The days when you could post your résumé on a Web site, or tell a few friends you were in the market, and then sit back to wait for the offers to pour in are gone. So you may want to reconsider blowing your entire severance on a two-month trip to Europe. Tuck some in the mattress for rent should the search prove more arduous than anticipated.

4. ... Even though it often pays off to move fast.

After a couple of years spent working 24-7, it's tempting to wait out the downturn with a well-deserved break. Travel a little. Catch up on your reading. Get your head together. But, our sources say, you do so at your own risk. Nobody's predicting a turnaround before the fourth quarter, and some industry veterans who have lived through previous corrections are downright gloomy about prospects for a robust recovery before early next year.

Their advice? Get out on the street, and do it fast. "Don't take the summer off," says Challenger. "Don't go on sabbatical. The unemployment rate is still only 4.4%, but it may get worse. In 1982, it was more than double that. Move while there's still some luster on your résumé."

5. By the way, the Internet won't necessarily solve your job-search problem.

If you think moving fast means posting your résumé on the Net and spamming prospective employers with email, you're living in the past. That strategy is so 1999. For all the Internet's wonders, the Net still can't touch person-to-person networking when it comes to finding good jobs.

In 2000, the vast majority of Drake Beam Morin clients -- 61% of them -- found new positions through networking, while only 6% found them through online job searches. Keep in mind, Simshauser says, that this not a paper process -- it's a people process.

So spend the evening doing your research or surfing the job boards. But spend your days out of the house. Go to professional meetings. Join organizations. Get involved in local government or volunteer work. Even pink-slip parties are worth a look since they're filled with fellow job seekers who may turn up leads that are better suited to your skills than theirs. "This is still a world where the best way to convey who you are is through somebody else's recommendation," says Simshauser.

6. You might have to settle for less money too.

Remember those giddy days when employers were forking over signing bonuses, paying bounties, and promising rafts of options to everyone from the CFO to the office admin? We regret to say that those days vanished along with record highs on the NASDAQ. Drake Beam Morin's Simshauser says that the offers he's been seeing are flat. "The high salaries have gone back to their old-economy standards," he says. "There's still a premium for good people at all levels, but right now, there are a lot of good people in the market."

The good news? Many companies are offering more cash and less equity. Two years ago, that policy would have been a deal breaker. Today, it just makes sense. You can't pay the electric bill with underwater Yahoo! options.

7. And you might find yourself at a more conservative company.