Job loss joins divorce, death, and financial woes at the top of the list of reasons for stress.

For most, layoff is a shock at first, and then a source of worry and despair. However, if the people who have been laid off can adopt the right attitude and make use of available help they can move on with their lives.

In other words, what happens to you after you have been walked down the hall and seated in a room where you've been told that your job is terminated, redundant, or downsized is up to you.

Many of those laid off don't have the skills to successfully find new employment. That's especially true for older workers in a country with an unemployment rate of nearly 6.5 percent.

So it's very important to develop job search skills and to develop a road map to help you get to where you want to go. The Goodwill Career Centre in London is one place to do so.

Anyone having to search for new employment can access the phone numbers for dozens of training and aid programs at (519) 660-6888

They can also log on to the website http://www.links2work.on.ca/