OT -Looking for advice on developing good job search techniques

I've been streamlined about 4 times in my career and each time, I was able to find another job, still staying with my same employer. I've been with the same employer for over 21 years. They reorganized again and I had to interview for my job on "Friday the 13th". Needless to say, the interview did not go as I expected and the newly structured management did not select me to go further in the competition. I have received my notice for November 30th, 2006. I am really hurt about this, but can't share it with my family, as I am afraid to get everyone else worried. I need to find a new career. My background is in Finance, Administration and Information Technology. I am a 5th level Certified General Accountant and I have completed all of the courses of the Certified Netware Engineer program under Netware 4.11 Administration. I also have training and experience in project management. Any advice, from experienced job searches, would be greatly appreciated. I've been "out of the market" for over two decades and surely could use some good advice right now. Help me discover "what I want to be when I grow up". LOL Thanks Karen G

Hey Karen, I don't have any experience in your field, but I was a hiring manager for over 10 years in 2 separate companies, so from that I'll give you some advice. I'd spend a lot of time working on your resume. You can just sit in barnes and nobles for hours looking at different resume books, and get ideas. While resumes won't get you a job, they are the key that will open the door to the next step which is the interview. Good places for job searching (depending on the area) is on line data bases. I stopped placing ads in the paper a long time ago, because you get more and faster responses online. Monster.com and hotjobs.com are great, plus many local areas have their own help wanted data bases (including the unemployement office of your company). In addition, you can post your resume on these sites, so that they will be available for perspective employeers. You might want to see if their are any head hunters in your field, they sometimes have really good leads on jobs. My sister who is a specialist found her current position through a head hunter, making more then she was at her former employer. As for the interview, all the "rules" that you hear about do apply. I would never hire anyone who didn't show up at least 15 minutes early for the interview, unless they called before hand with a legitimate excuse. Look neat, it's not time to save on your clothing, have 2 really nice and I'd have to say higher end interview cloths available. Many times managers (including HR managers) will try to sqeeze you in to their schedule, so if their is a spot open tommorrow, your in....if you have a suit already pressed and ready to go...it relieves the stress off of you. I say buy expensive clothing rather then cheap knock offs, because expensive clothing hangs better then cheaper clothing. It really makes a difference in appearance. Get a book on interviews. Many HR managers and hiring managers will use lists of questions they found in books, it sounds silly but rehearse your answers before hand. Practice with someone, it really helps. Finally, an interview is your time to shine, it's your time to make a positive impression about yourself. It's your time to sell yourself. Imagine yourself as a sales person and your job is to sell you. I've hired people with less qualifications then I would have desired because that person sold themselves well. I've actually even offered people higher positions then they applied for, again based on their interview(s). Scott