I will never forget the day my husband, an IT executive, was laid-off. 

The day began with a phone call from his boss. He was told to report to HR for a “mandatory” meeting at 10:00 am. As a career counselor (and former HR Director), I knew this wasn’t good news. 

His company had already gone through two rounds of layoffs and rumor had it more terminations were on the way. So, my husband was understandably anxious as he drove to the train station, parked the car and boarded the 7:27 train into Manhattan. 

As anticipated, his meeting was short and to the point. He was handed a severance package, provided information about outplacement services and ushered out of the office. 

By noon, he was back at our local train station, only to find his car battery had died (true story, I swear). After several unsuccessful attempts to jump-start the car in the blazing July heat, he called me to pick him up. 

I arrived to find him drenched in sweat -- and not quite sure whether to laugh or cry.

Thus began our journey into unemployment.

Thankfully, we can now look back on that day and laugh. But at the time, it wasn’t funny. In fact, it was downright scary. In spite of my years of experience coaching people about job search strategies, resumes and the like, we had never faced being laid-off ourselves. 

Fortunately, through experience and determination, we learned what to do. In fact, we learned so much along the way, we began to wonder if other people couldn’t benefit from our expertise. We kept copious notes about our journey, compiled the best job search resources, and before we knew it, we had the content for what became an electronic guide titled:

The guide debuted on the web in 2002 (and has been updated annually since) and was acclaimed by the critics and users alike:

“An incredibly useful resource.” -- Anne Fisher, FORTUNE magazine

"Collamer's high-quality e-book is a compendium of how to manage layoffs."-- Joyce Lain Kennedy, Syndicated Careers Columnist

As news of the guide spread, The Wall Street Journal, Time, US News and World Report and CNN called to interview me about layoff survival strategies. Dozens of users sent notes of gratitude for this “lifesaving guide.” 

Everyone seemed to agree that the resources, advice and insights provided in this guide helped them manage the layoff process with less stress, greater confidence and more success than if they did it on their own. Now I want to share this goldmine of information with you: