Choice Employee Laid Off, But Why?

DEAR JOYCE: I was laid off last week. So much for everybody's advice to become Most Valuable Player to your employer. Although I volunteered for extra assignments, stayed late, found a mentor (also laid off), got good reviews and beefed up contacts throughout the company, here I am "at liberty" at age 41. What now? -- H.W.

You know there are no absolute answers here. Like a health-conscious marathon runner dropping dead at age 50 because of an unsuspected gene problem, your exit couldn't have been foreseen -- assuming you didn't ignore obvious warning signs such as sagging profits. You were on the right track.

Assuming you're not a victim of illegal reasons (gender, age or other diversity issues) or nepotism, the key determinant of who survives layoffs is each employee's input to profit potential -- and that's based on his or her previous impact on bottom-line productivity.

Lesser choice-makers: high salary or "last hired, first fired."

So, what could you have done to change the outcome? Not much. But don't give employers gift-wrapped reasons to turn you out. Continue to earn your keep, learn all you can about what you do, keep your networking juice flowing and monitor the job market.

This Great Recession reminds us that life is short on guarantees.

DEAR JOYCE: After graduating from college in May, I'm unable to get a starter sales job. I keep being turned down because I don't have two or three years' sales experience. How do I get it if I can't get hired? -- S.L.

"Acquire light-years' more information about what you want to do and make wide use of information interviews. You need to sound like you know what you're talking about."

That key advice is drawn from a decade-old -- but still the best -- book dealing with your problem: "I Wanna Be a Sales Rep: The Insider's Guide to Landing Great-Paying Jobs in Sales," by Lydia Afeman. Self-published and out of print, the 1998 book can still be found in libraries and at Amazon.com (it's listed as a used book).

Note to college seniors: If you don't have at least one internship in your background, jump on the learning-working concept right now. Even if you have to set it up to happen immediately after graduation. Here's why:

New survey data from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) shows that employers expect to hire 7 percent fewer graduates from the college Class of 2010 than they did from the Class of 2009 -- and that rate was down more than 21 percent from 2008. Do the math. Details are posted on naceweb.org/press; click on Press Releases.