What you do in the first few days of job loss matters. And the same applies to how you handle an on-going career crisis. So first of all, recognize that this is an emotional time, a difficult transition, and that you’re not making any big decisions. Secondly, you want to keep your dignity intact. You don’t want to lash out at your boss or former boss and co-workers. If you’ve been let go, you need simply to get out of the office and go home.

Call your spouse or best friend, get back to your home, make yourself a nice lunch, and then take a walk or do something that allows you to burn off some of the hurt and anger. It’s too soon to update your resume or begin calling your contacts. Keep things simple.

One client I worked with lived in New York City but worked in New Jersey. When I met with him, just after he’d been notified that he was no longer needed by his company, it was the end of the day and most of the other employees had already left. He and I talked about how he was going to get home since he usually got a ride to the train station with a co-worker. So we asked HR to hire a car for him to drive him back to his apartment in the city. We could have asked for a ride to the train station, but he and I agreed that, given the circumstances, it was the least the company could do for him. He told me later that riding in that hired car gave him the quiet and private time to begin processing his job loss and what he might do next.