Dealing with the emotional fallout of a layoff is a crucial step career coaches and employment consultants emphasize in this first recession of the 21st century.

“It’s like getting a big punch in the stomach,” said Brenda Hamilton, executive director of the Hamilton-Daniel Career Institute in Memphis, Tenn. “It implies that you are useless. (People) begin to lose self-esteem. It ends up costing the whole society. It’s to all of our advantage to get them up and out again really quickly.”

Hamilton and Michael Hall, her colleague at the career institute, have written a booklet, “The Pink Slip Cure,” to help people who have lost their jobs turn what seems like short-term misfortune into a better life in the long run. The booklet is available at www.pinkslip-cure.com.

“The Pink Slip Cure” advises the following:

• Decide what type of job you really want, and then pursue it.
• Consider the possibility of starting your own business.
• Meet with a support group that focuses on the positive.
• Invest in your skills.

“The Pink Slip Cure” advises people who have been laid off to obtain as much information from their personnel files as possible before the last day. This file may contain information about:

¢ Personal or team sales

• Revenue generated for the company

¢ Positions held

• The number and type of workers supervised

¢ Projects completed

• Marketable skills acquired

¢ Processes established

• Goals met
• Awards and citations