If you could not make the “Survival boot camp” Saturday at the National Press Club, the daylong program was well received by the 50 to 75 attendees, including several RRA members. The agenda included tips on reinventing yourself after a layoff, resume dos and donts, power networking, transitioning from old media to new media, talks from some of the specialty publications that are hiring, how to assess your own life, tips for financial planning, and advice on freelancing.

Here’s some takeaway points that RRA members shared:

• When networking, be specific about what type of job you are looking for so that people think of you when a job like that opens up. People won’t necessarily think about you if you are too vague about what you are looking for.
• If you already have a job, get personal business cards to hand out to people while actively networking. www.vistaprint.com will let you design cards online and print them for you free, just pay shipping.
• Make sure that you meet a set number of people at each networking event you attend. Do not spend more than five minutes talking to anyone unless you think that contact could lead to a job at that moment in time. Work the room. Get an exit strategy so that you can go on to the next person. One tip: introduce the person you are talking to to someone else.
• Make yourself a resource. Send people a story they might find interesting or useful as a way to maintain contact but also be seen as a resource.
• You might want to consider reading this book: “How to win friends and influence people.”
• Do not gossip or say negative things about an employer, colleagues or others. It will reflect badly on you.
• Pay attention to your first impression. Smile. Make people feel like you want to meet them. Dress appropriately. If unsure of what’s expected, dress one level higher than you might otherwise to avoid, for example, being the only one without a tie.
• When shaking hands, always say your name. Looking at name tags is OK, it’s what they’re for. Use the person you meet’s name when talking to them to help remember it.
• Prepare to be spontaneous. Think of a few short points, your speech you’ll want to tell people, and practice it beforehand. Research something about the group, its sponsors and officers
• Help others feel comfortable meeting you.
• Reserve your own domain name and create your own Web site where you can show off your work. If you don’t know how to build a web site, the Apple Store offers one-on-one training. A $99 fee covers as many as one visit a week for a year to the store for personal training.
• Take stock of your own situation and figure out what you want more or less of in your life. A useful web site: www.authentichappiness.org
• Make a plan, set a deadline, set clear-cut goals, figure out if you’ve met them
• If you’re laid off, expose yourself to positive people and ideas. Don’t hang around with those, such as former colleagues, who are only going to bring you down.
• Pay attention to your intuition
• Clarify your goals in conflict. If you have two goals and they would conflict with each other, you need to prioritize those goals. Which one is more important?
• There is hope if a newspaper job disappears. Niche publications are hiring. Some pay very well and have a good outlook because they’re actually selling the news they report to readers who want to buy it, as opposed to using the news as a vehicle to get advertising into people’s homes.
• Begin to plan financially for a lay off. Press club members are eligible for a credit union membership that offers one-on-one sessions with a financial planner. The club also has a health plan you can buy into that might be cheaper than buying health care on the open market.
• The stimulus bill provided a 65 percent subsidy for unemployed workers who buy health coverage from their former employers through COBRA, but it is not permanent.
• There’s such a job as a certified professional resume writer, one of whom spoke at the panel. Here’s some of her advice: Two or two-and-a-half pages are OK for a resume if you’ve been working 20 years, not so good if you’re still in your 20s. Stress your skills and what you actually did, rather than tired phrases such as “supervised” or “had responsibibility for” something. Don’t say you were a staff writer, talk about your skills, use action-driven words. www.linkedin.com is a good place to look for getting resources.
• If you are out of work, try volunteering so your resume shows you still were doing something. www.idealist.org matches skills needed with volunteers willing to help nonprofits.
• As angry as you might get, be wary what you say on Facebook or other sites if laid off. Future employers may search and find it.
• If laid off, weigh whether to keep your 401k with your company or transfer it to an IRA. Some 401ks have fees that employers pay for employees, but that you would have to pay after you stop being an employee. Those fees could reduce investment earnings compared to lower-priced mutual funds in an IRA.

– Herb Jackson, The Record (NJ); Bob Keefe, Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Anonymous