Dear Rachel,
I was just laid off and need your advice. I can't say I was taken entirely by surprise, since we have been going through cutbacks. I guess was I surprised that it was me who got the axe. I've been here for a long time, and I have always gotten good reviews. Management was nice, as I would expect they would be. I'm stunned more than anything. My problem is that this is the only place I've ever worked. I don't know the first thing about looking for a job --Disappointed career guy

Dear Guy,
Welcome to an ever-expanding club of media people. I could give you the usual advice about polishing up your resume, or in your case writing what would really be your first.

And you should do that. You should also get in touch with recruiters who know your market. There's not a lot of movement these days, but you need to have those talks.

But my most immediate advice--immediate as in start today--is to put the word out to all your rep friends you've made over the past decade. Good reps are just incredibly wired in, and they know who's coming and going, sometimes even before that person gives notice that he or she is leaving the job. Think of them as a floating network of employment leads.

And if you have worked well together, they have every reason to want to see you employed again. Helping you will be good for business. Ideally, you'll land in a position where you’ll be able to send them business.

Along that line, I would also tap into what your bosses are hearing. They're going to want to help you land, based on what you're telling me. They too hear a lot of things on the street about who's coming and who's going, and about what new shops might be opening up.

But you must also consider going freelance.

Put the word out to people you've worked with over the years that you are leaving and available. You could find yourself back to work the Monday after your last Friday at the agency.

Times are certainly tough, and there are few jobs out there, but the work must get done, and a lot of companies find it far more cost effective to hire on freelancers.

There are a lot of reasons to freelance, besides the income. Freelance work can often lead to an offer of full-time work. As things get better, and they will at some point, companies reach out to the people they've built relationships with during the hard times. As they are cranking back up, they have neither the time nor the inclination to go through a long hiring process. They need to get the work out the door, and you're going to be there to do it for them.

Another big reason to freelance is that it keeps you on the street, where you're going to hear about jobs opening up. You're also staying in the game, which is also important for your sense of well-being.

These are very strange times for media people. Recovery seems to loom and fade, and now the word is that ad spending won't begin coming back in a meaningful way until second-half 2010.

That's a long way off. You need to be prepared for that, and you need to stay busy.