The financial services, construction and manufacturing sectors are being hit by the gloomy economy, prompting layoffs. Whatever your industry, it's important to plan how to effectively rebound from a layoff or help former employees find new IT work.

Human capital management firm Lee Hecht Harrison offers advice for identifying the next career opportunity quickly and effectively after a restructuring:

* Don’t panic. Let the news sink in and then approach your job search as a project with milestones, targets and deliverables.

* Tweak your resume. Avoid the common mistakes of making it too long, wordy or unfocused. The resume should indicate who you are, what skills you have and how you’d add value to a company.

* Network. Tap your professional and personal network to let everyone know you’re looking for a job and utilize social networking sites to update others on your search.

* Be open-minded. Don’t limit yourself to one industry or functional area of IT. Think about what skills are transferable to other areas. For example, the book “Debugging Your Information Technology Career” focuses on how IT pros can use their experience to enter other fields. Author Janice Weinberg cites many possibilities including a network security administrator moving to a cyberliability insurance broker role, or a business analyst or software developer becoming a global procurement project manager to support finance or sales.

* Do your homework. Before taking a new job, research the company and industry. Look at cultural fit and stability.

Amy Schurr is the former managing features editor of Network World.