Lost your job, but you've a got a cushion: How soon do you get back in the game?

Q: Your company has downsized. You departed with a generous severance package. Coupled with your savings, that will give you a cushion of at least six months of living expenses. What should you do next?

Nick's reply: The conventional wisdom is to start a job search as soon as possible. But that assumes you know what you want. When a person suffers the trauma of a layoff, this produces stress that can lead to poor choices. Over the years, I've seen too many people jump too quickly between jobs. They can't make good choices because they are too focused on eliminating the pain of being unemployed. That often leads them to the wrong job, even when they can afford to wait a bit for the right one.

If you have your wits about you, it's fine to move right along into a job search. (But don't fool yourself into thinking the company is going to hire you right back.) If you feel worn out and misused, you're in no shape to make career decisions, even if you have financial pressure to get back to work immediately.

Please don't misunderstand my statements. In today's scary economy, I don't chastise anyone for taking the first job that comes along. The rent must be paid and food must be put on the table. But that doesn't mean we can't consider the bigger picture anyway.

The first assessment you should make is a financial one: How long can you last without a job? If you have a cushion, use it. Your challenge is not just to start earning money; it's to win the right job so you won't have to go through all this again in a few months. I know that the pressure to get re-employed can be very great. That's all the more reason to pause and think.

A short vacation can be a good thing, especially if it removes you from your normal surroundings. It's amazing what a "change of place" can do for a person's perspective. We all get stuck thinking a certain way, focusing on the same-old, worrying about one thing. In a sense, we stop being ourselves and we begin to live out our fears and anxieties. That's how people's lives start on nasty downward spirals.

When you have a little time between jobs, it can be worth detaching yourself from work altogether. It's good to look at the other aspects of your life and ask whether you are serving them well. Family, friends, personal interests and dreams need attention. Without them, our work loses meaning. When we're narrowly focused on our jobs, we're not in a position to consider alternative jobs -- other kinds of work we'd like to be doing. Time between jobs can be the best time to think about an entirely new line of work.

A layoff and a severance package can be a gift. Unlike necessities, gifts should be a little frivolous. They should be enjoyed. In my opinion, time off is one of the most precious gifts, because it gives us a chance to be alone, to enjoy the company of family and friends, and to renew the promise of our dreams. So if you find yourself between jobs, cut yourself a little slack if you can afford it. Dream a little. You might wake up in an entirely new place.

Copyright 2009. Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate

Nick Corcodilos is author of "Ask The Headhunter: Reinventing the Interview to Win the Job" and the host of www.asktheheadhunter.com. He can be reached by e-mail at seattle@asktheheadhunter.com or at North Bridge Group, P.O. Box 600, Lebanon, NJ 08833. Sorry, no personal replies.