by Nicole Selley

Created on: August 09, 2009

When an employee is being laid off, it is hard in so many ways. You feel money worries crashing down on you within seconds of receiving the news. You start doubting yourself, not feeling good enough - or why else would you have lost your job rather than a colleague? And you are concerned that you won't be able to find a new job quickly and before you know it you might slip into long-term unemployment and maybe won't be placeable again in the future.

Unfortunately we are currently living in a recession and this unstable economical environment means that unemployment rates are rising, increasing numbers of people get unemployed and competition for vacant jobs therefore becomes very fierce indeed. But that doesn't mean that you have to give up.

If you can't find a new job straight away you might want to consider going back to school. You might think that's crazy, you've been out of school for a long time and anyway, you can't afford it. But take some time, to think about the idea.

To find new employment in a time were the power is clearly with the employers and competition for any job can be more than daunting, can be very hard. Of course you should try, but you might find that you spend day after day writing applications, going to interviews and hoping that tomorrow will bring better news. At the same time you might find yourself competing with younger and better qualified candidates.

Going back to school can help you in a number of ways with this difficult situation.

First of all it gives you something to do. It gets you out of the house, gives you something to do and helps you to cling on to your confidence. You meet new people - this aspect of social networking might even help you to be the first to hear about a new job coming on to the market, and you feel like to are doing something to improve your chance of getting back into employment. This way you won't feel useless and helpless in your situation, but a little more in control of your future. It also shows future employers that you are determined to be successful in your chosen career and used the gaps in your employment history to become a stronger and better employee in the future.

Secondly, going back to school can help you to increase your competitive advantage against other candidates applying for the same jobs as you. If you know that most of the other candidates are better qualified than you, now is the best time for you to gain that qualification yourself. Or maybe you don't believe that

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