In the current economy, a lot of people are doing a job search who haven't done so in decades. If you thought you were going to be with your former company until you retired and are now facing the pounding of the pavement, it can be really rough. Here are some helpful tips for you:

Take advantage of career counselling

Many companies who lay off employees will offer career counselling as part of your severance package. You might think it's unnecessary but with the reality of some job postings receiving hundreds of applicants, you need every opportunity possible to stand apart in a crowd. Career counselling can help you get from the tall pile to the short list of resumes when the perfect job presents itself. They'll help you with resume preparation, interviewing tips, job search, etc.

Interviews are Good Practice

Some people are so panicked about getting a job in their job search that they send out so many resumes in the hopes for an offer that they suddenly find themselves getting calls for jobs they're really not all that interested in. If you get called for an interview for a job you're not all that gung-ho about and it's early days of job searching, consider going on the interview anyway. Every interview you do will help prepare and fine-tune your interviewing skills and your resume.

If it has been many years since you had an interview, it'll do good to answer questions, especially if you're not all that interested in the job. The good thing about going on a job interview you don't think you really want the job for is that you won't be overly nervous.

Open-mindedness

Of course you don't want to be unfair and waste anyone's time but you never know --- once you get in the room with the human resources specialist, you might find that you actually are interested in that job after all. Open-mindedness can be essential in reinventing yourself after losing a job. Fear and trepidation about being the new guy or gal can be overwhelming but with each interview, you'll get a better sense of how to position yourself so that you do get a second interview or an offer letter.

Read resumes / CV's

Reading through other peoples' resumes (many job search sites list resumes as well as job postings) can help you fine tune your own. Today, most resumes are only a page or two with a short cover letter. Even if you've got thirty years of experience in your trade, you'll need to condense that so that you can grab the attention of the person scanning dozens of resumes for things that stand out as extraordinary. There are websites and books dedicated to helping you put together a winning resume that's not too boastful and not too inflated while also being attention-grabbing.

Being laid off is a difficult life-event that more people than ever are having to face. Your job search efforts may be difficult for you but there are many tools and resources that are designed to help you through the process.