The headline in my Charlotte Observer this morning says it all. “Thousands of Charlotte layoffs likely after Wachovia’s stunning fall.” There are headlines like that all around the country these days.

The financial crisis means there will be lots of layoffs. There will be mergers, too. What do you do if you’re in one of the companies that gets “merged.”

You’ve got two key challenges when the company you work for is merged into another. Look out. And look good.

Look out. Too many people figure “they won’t get rid of me” and then get surprised. Too many decide to “wait and see what happens” and wait until it’s too late.

Don’t be one of them. Get your credentials together. Tune up your resume. And start looking.

If you’ve got great performance reviews make sure you have copies that you can share with prospective employers. If you’ve got bosses who love you, ask if you can use them as a reference with their personal contact information, if necessary.

Fire up your network and start looking for opportunities and possibilities. It doesn’t matter what situation you’re in, there’s an opportunity in there somewhere.

Look good. These quickfire, forced mergers are different from classic mergers. Instead of taking place over months with plenty of time to evaluate talent, they took place over a weekend. The first order of business for your new bosses will be figuring out who they want to keep.

No matter how you’re feeling, make sure you’re focused, productive and pleasant in the office. Look like what you are: the employee everyone will want to keep. It’s way better to find a new job when you choose, not when you’re out on the street with thousands of others who look just like you.

Getting merged will change the world around you. It won’t be easy. But what comes out of it is up to you.

Every week I check dozens of “career” blogs and other online publications, looking for things that will help you find a job, get promoted, develop your skills, and keep everything in perspective and balance. Here’s the pick of the lot for this week. I’m pointing you to items about making the most of bad situations, why it pays to connect with others, using LinkedIn, and making the most of experience.

From Lisa Haneberg at Management Craft: Stop Trying to Change Your Boss’s Mind and Make His/Her Lousy Idea Work!

“We need to make sure that we do not fall into the trap of defining success as “winning” or getting what we want. Success should be measured in terms of our impact to the growth and success of the organization.”

Wally’s Comment: Personal integrity is important. Fighting for what you think is the right choice is important. But there often comes a time to put that aside and pitch in.

From Liz Wolgemuth at US News and World Report: 10 Great Things You Can Do Right Now to Improve Your Job

“These are hard times, but here are 10 basic steps you can take today, tomorrow, or this week to juice up your job (culled from many experts I’ve interviewed for various stories).”

Wally’s Comment: Maybe you’re in a situation where you’ve got to stay in a not-so-great job for a while. Here are some ways to improve your situation.

From CareerRealism: Are You a Marble or a Sponge?

“In the Current Economy, Your Answer Will Determine the Quality, Quantity & Quickness of Job Offers You Receive”

Wally’s Comment: This is a great post on a career strategy that makes a difference.

From Dotty Scott at Networking Effectively: LinkedIn-Professional Networking for the Serious Business Owner

“When I first joined LinkedIn – I was like most average business owners – registered because someone invited me and then never completed the profile and never participated. Guess what – I never got anything out if it either! After reevaluating online networking sites I discovered a potential huge pool of people that can help my business grow in one way or another. LinkedIn has become one of my best sources of business information and a great resource for potential customers. There are “secrets” to using LinkedIn - and now I am going to reveal the secrets to you.”

Wally’s Comment: I know, the title of the post says, “Business Owners.” Pay no attention. This is good material about using any of the online networking sites.

From the Practice of Leadership: How leaders make the most of their experiences

“Leaders are continual learners and effective leaders ensure they make the most of their life experiences. It’s important that you understand how to extract the maximum value from what you learn from your experiences as you journey through life. Here are some of what I have learnt about the importance of learning from what life throws at you.”

Wally’s Comment: What good is experience if you don’t learn from it? This is a great post on how to do it.

John was a rising young star until his job disappeared. He’s worked in financial services, so there will be lots of people like him flooding into the job market. Here are some thoughts for John and the rest of you who are suddenly jobless.

Yes, it’s unfair. But nobody makes it through a career without some bad luck. Sometimes it’s not your fault, it’s just your turn.

You’ve got two choices about how to spend your time. You can brood about what happened. Or you can start working on what will happen next. I suggest the latter.

Take stock. What are your strengths and weaknesses, personally, professionally and financially? What opportunities are out there for you? What major threats could make things worse?

Prepare for the long haul. Cut back your spending. Pull together your professional accomplishments, with proof, so you can stand out from the crowd of other job seekers.

Study up on best practices in job search. If you haven’t been in the job-hunting game for a while, or even if you have, read up on the job search process and tactics. A good place to start is right here.

Every week, I select the best career posts and give you pointers to them. Those posts are a rich source of advice about how to do the best job possible of finding your next job.

Talk to people. Get advice from knowledgeable people you trust. Let people know what’s happened to you and that you’re back in the job search game. Don’t neglect alerting your online networks.

Start now. It’s tempting to sit in the ashes of your bad luck and dwell on it. Don’t do that. It’s tempting to “take some time off.” Don’t do that either.

Your job now is to make the next stage of your life happen. So plan your days and weeks the way you would on the job. Set some short term objectives. Measure your progress.

When bad things happen to good people, the good people need to get to work and make good things happen.

Every week I check dozens of “career” blogs and other online publications, looking for things that will help you find a job, get promoted, develop your skills, and keep everything in perspective and balance. Here’s the pick of the lot for this week. I’m pointing you to items about cleaning up your social posts, what to do while you’re waiting for the next step in the process, making keywords your friend, how recruiters view your resume, and becoming visible to the right headhunters.

From Newsday: Boozing, drugs on your resume?

“Careerbuilder.com says to watch your social posts — some employers go looking for digital dirt on jobs applicants.”

Wally’s Comment: You’ve heard this message a lot, but it doesn’t hurt to hear it again. Pay special attention if you’re starting the interview cycle for internships or looking for that first job after graduation.

From Alison Green at US News and World Report: How to Play the Post-Interview Waiting Game

“So you had the job interview, things seemed to go well, and you left expecting that you would hear back soon. But now…silence. And you’re left waiting around with no idea of when or if you’ll hear from them. It’s not at all unusual for the hiring process to take longer than a candidate would like, for all sorts of reasons: Decision makers are out of town, scheduling conflicts are delaying a final interview, the bureaucracy necessary to finalize an offer takes weeks to work through (not necessarily a great sign about the work environment, but that’s a different topic), and so forth. But you’re not entirely at the company’s mercy, although it might feel that way.”

Wally’s Comment: It seems to me like most candidates expect the process to unfold faster than it does and that most companies don’t pay much attention to “how long it’s been” so this post may be especially helpful.

From My Global Career: Keywords of the Rich & Famous

“Are you buzzword compliant? Maybe that’s the problem - in the careers field they’re no longer called buzzwords. They’re called keywords, and without them, your résumé will slide into a black hole in cyberspace from which no search engine can find you.”

Wally’s Comment: Today’s resumes move on line. Many are culled from the pack by software searching for just the right keyword. Read this post to make those magical keywords work for you.

From the Boston Globe Job Blog: Difference of opinion

“Ever wondered what hiring managers think when your résumé flops across their desk? Do they intently scan every word, or does it quickly get crinkled up and shot through a mini basketball hoop and into a garbage can? This is one of the things we wanted to know when we solicited résumés from Boston.com readers and sent a select few to hiring managers, HR experts, and recruiters across greater Boston.”

Wally’s Comment: Another fine post on how recruiters see your resume.

From Forbes: How to Headhunt the Headhunters

“Sending a blind letter like this to a recruiter you don’t know is a total waste of time, particularly when there are thousands of former Wall Street employees lined up in front of the copy machines. Even more clueless: Sending a résumé to someone who doesn’t even conduct searches in your field. ”

Wally’s Comment: At a certain level, headhunters become important to career moves. Here’s a solid post on how to find the right ones in the right way.

After watching careers for almost forty years, I’ve got a pretty good idea about what you should do to build yours. Here’s some advice if you’re starting out.

1. Seek and use feedback. Feedback will turbocharge your career and put you on the path to continuous improvement.

2. Get help. You can’t know it all yourself. Get help from mentors, friends, peers, books, classes and role models.

3. Seek out challenges. That’s how you grow.

4. At some point you will fail. It will be painful. Instead of sitting in the ashes of your life and shaking your fist at the sky, pick yourself up, learn from what happened and keep going. Ask my mother’s favorite question for all challenges: “What good can we make of this?”

5. Build on your strengths and help others build on their strengths. Figure out what you do both well and joyfully. Do the same for your team. Spend your time on developing and using strengths. Make weaknesses irrelevant.

6. Admit your mistakes, graciously. Forgive the mistakes others make. Figure out how to move on and learn from experience.

7. Say “Thank you.” Write thank-you notes. Send thank-you emails. People will remember you.

8. Learn to write lucid memoranda. You can’t communicate if you can’t write.

9. Learn to make good presentations. In today’s world this is a requirement. Learn to marshal the research. Learn to tell relevant stories.

10. Help your boss and your employer look good. That’s part of your job and it pays dividends over the course of a career.

11. Learn to keep your mouth shut when it’s important. Don’t discuss sensitive issues or your customer’s business on your cell phone in a public place. Don’t gossip. Keep sensitive documents secure.

12. Clarify expectations until they are crystalline. Make sure you understand what your boss wants from you. Make sure the people who work with you understand what you want.

13. Fight for the important stuff and give in gracefully otherwise. There are very few things in business or in life that are worth messing up a relationship.

14. Develop habits and checklists that help you get the routine work done routinely and well. You will develop a reputation for reliability.

15. You don’t know when an opportunity to stand out from the crowd will appear. Read and study and listen so that you’re ready when a big opportunity comes your way. Create learning programs for yourself.

16. Ambition can be a driving force but it needn’t be obvious and self-serving. It certainly needn’t be aggressive. Let others become known for their ambition while you build a reputation for excellence.

17. Keep your promises. Nothing can destroy a career faster or more thoroughly than a reputation as being untrustworthy.

18. Every day identify the most important thing you need to do. Then do it.

19. Work hard. Some people succeed without working hard, but some people win the lottery, too. Very few people achieve meaningful and lasting success without working hard.

20. When in doubt about what to do, act like the person you want to become.

Remember that careers are built from the things you do every day. You’re more likely to succeed in the long run if you take every opportunity to develop yourself, your skills, your friends, and your relationships. Good luck.

Every week I check dozens of “career” blogs and other online publications, looking for things that will help you find a job, get promoted, develop your skills, and keep everything in perspective and balance. Here’s the pick of the lot for this week. I’m pointing you to items about Business Week’s list of the best places to launch a career, negotiating a salary package, using Facebook to help employers find you, learning from bad jobs, and a systematic way to see what jobs might be the perfect fit for you.

From Business Week: The Best Places to Launch a Career

“To lure and keep young talent when cash is tight, companies of all stripes are appealing to Gen Yers’ ambitions for speedy advancement—and their desire to do good while doing well.”

Wally’s Comment: Here’s Business Week’s annual look at the best places to start a career. Check it out. Then figure out the best place for you.

From Fortify Your Oasis: Negotiating salary package/remuneration/filthy lucre

“The motto of the Gucci family is: Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten. In this extract from the best-selling job-hunting book, Where’s My Oasis? Rowan Manahan looks at one of the make-it-or-break-it moments of the selection process - negotiating your package.”

Wally’s Comment: Negotiating salary is tough. Here’s some guidance about how to handle the moment when it comes up.

From Willy Franzen at One Day One Job: Use Facebook Ads to Make Employers Hunt You Down

“If you pay any attention to the news, you might think that anyone who is looking for a job should immediately cancel his or her Facebook membership and never sign up again. Headlines read: Bank Intern Busted by Facebook, Employers Look at Facebook Too, and Employers Snoop on Facebook. There’s rarely anything new in the stories, but somehow they continue to pop up in all sorts of media outlets. More and more companies are using Facebook as a recruiting tool (and those who aren’t yet should hire us to help them), but for the most part any press that has included the words “employer” and “Facebook” has been negative. Not anymore.”

Wally’s Comment: This is step-by-step stuff, designed primarily for new graduates, but usable by anyone who’s out hunting for a job.

From the Monster Blog: Top 5 Things My Bad Jobs Taught Me

“When people find out I work for Monster, they often ask me for advice on their own careers. I give this standard guidance when people complain they have a bad job: Put your resume together, start looking and try not to let the situation get you down. It will pass. But every experience, good or bad, teaches you life lessons, and work is no exception. Here are the top five lessons I’ve learned from jobs that were not a good fit.”

Wally’s Comment: I don’t know anyone who’s made it through a career, or even a small part of one, without winding up in a job that was bad for them. When that happens to you, and it will, your challenge will be to learn from the experience. Here’s what one person has learned already.

From Juliet Jones at the Career Key Blog: 5 Steps to Smarter Career Exploration: Leave No Stones Unturned

“When choosing a career, it’s easy to have a narrow mind about your choices. We’re most comfortable with careers we’ve heard of and know something about, even if our only information comes from TV: think forensic scientist, real estate agent, fashion designer, crabfisher, those crazy Mythbusters guys making hovercrafts in their garage (job title anyone?) and the “usual suspects” doctors and lawyers. But wouldn’t you hate missing out on a great career just because you didn’t dig deep enough? Don’t be intimidated by massive databases of jobs or giant encyclopedias of career options. The internet makes exploration a little easier. Here are 5 steps to be smart and efficient in your career exploration – without leaving stones unturned.”

Wally’s Comment: Most people choose a job because they know someone who does it or because some guidance counselor tells them it’s a good idea. Juliet Jones presents a post with a systematic way to consider how your personality and various jobs match up. If you’re starting out or if you’re at a mid-career Exploration stage, this will be a great exercise for you. If you’re not there at the moment, bookmark this post so you can visit it when your time comes.

Beginning in 1958, the International Paper Company ran a series of classic ads with the tag line: “Send me a man who reads.” The premise was that people who read would be better workers and more successful, driving results in organizations.

At the time it didn’t seem like a campaign like that was necessary. Reading in the US was on a roll back then. The number of books purchased increased by 447 percent between 1940 and 1960. The population only increased by 37 percent.

Today, things look different. Books sales have been flat for a while. An AP-Ipsos poll in 2007 found that a quarter of Americans had not read a book during the preceding year.

I’m not here to beat you up about not reading. I won’t bemoan the evil internet, mindless television, or a broken school system. Instead, I want to offer a suggestion.

Reading will help you be more successful. Start with what you can do online.

Read to keep up with what’s going in your industry or field. Head over to Google News. You can scan the news of the day to see what newspapers around the world think is important.

But there’s more. You can set up alerts that will let you know when there’s an article about your company or industry.

Check out the important sites for your industry. If you’re in manufacturing, go to Industry Week, for example.

Visit the sites of the important news outlets. Consider the Wall Street Journal and New York Times if you’re in business. Both of those offer alert options to subscribers and subscriptions are inexpensive.

Read book summaries and book reviews. There are lots of books you want to know about but may not want to devote time to reading.

Read books. They provide a kind of thoughtful depth that you won’t find in magazines and on the net. Find a subject you like and read up on it.

In today’s world we’d have to modify International Paper’s original line to “Send me a person who reads.” But if you’re the person you’re going to be more likely to find yourself in demand because reading will give you more to offer.

Every week I check dozens of “career” blogs and other online publications, looking for things that will help you find a job, get promoted, develop your skills, and keep everything in perspective and balance. Here’s the pick of the lot for this week. I’m pointing you to items about how to choose a job that uses your strengths, figuring out what your weaknesses are, getting a job if you’re over 50, creative job search ideas, and how to write that dreaded document: your own evaluation.

From Steve Roesler at All Things Workplace: Where’s The Best Place to Use Your Strengths?

“There are a lot of places where you can work. What you want to know is: Which ones will allow me to use my talents for peak performance and satisfaction?”

Wally’s Comment: Steve’s right. The best place for you to work is one where you use and build on your strengths. Here’s his in-depth look at how to pick a place to work where you can be productive and happy.

From Ask a Manager: no, you really do have weaknesses

“Apparently there is a new superhuman breed walking among us, utterly free of weaknesses.”

Wally’s Comment: If you don’t know what your weaknesses are, you won’t be able to convincingly answer that interview question. More important, you won’t be able to make those weaknesses irrelevant. It’s the career companion to building on your strengths.

From Sarah Needleman at the Wall Street Journal: Finding a New Position As a Mature Job Hunter

“Searching for a job when you’re 50 or older requires a different approach than a typical search. You’re likely to seek opportunities higher up on the corporate ladder and may face perceived age bias. To succeed, you need to plan ahead, asserts Lynne A. Sarikas, director of the M.B.A. career center at Northeastern University in Boston. Consider this advice to secure a new position.”

Wally’s Comment: Most of the “how to find a job” advice is for people at the lower end of the age spectrum. Once you’ve hit mid-career, the game changes.

From Kevin Donlin writing at George’s Employmentblawg: How to Choose and Hit Job Search Targets Creatively

“Ever want to slap your forehead and say, “Why didn’t I think of that?” You might, after you discover how one New York man found the right job, largely as a result of blind luck … or was it creative smarts? Read on to judge for yourself and, more importantly, to find the two lessons that can get you hired, too.”

Wally’s Comment: This post simply drips with good ideas.

How to Write a Self Evaluation

“How do you write a self-evaluation without sounding either pompous or self-effacing? And one that will still benefit you in your career? Be strategically honest. Use select facts to build the correct impression without saying anything untrue. This article will outline a systematic approach to showing how valuable you are as an employee. ”

Wally’s Comment: I saved the best for last. Not only is this a funny post, but it might actually help you write a self-evaluation.

Thanks to Frank Roche at the KnowHR Blog for spotting this one.

Like many people, we spent part of Labor Day at a cookout. And somehow, over the ribs and corn and drinks we got to talking about careers and how we all wound up where we did. As the conversation went on, I noticed that the way we chose our careers split along generational lines.

Oldest first. Some of our number were in their seventies. They were born into the depression and came out on the other side of World War II wanting a certain amount of security. Two of the fellows in that age group quite literally picked what to do based on reading government studies of the most lucrative careers.

Both became engineers. Neither was interested in their particular kind of engineering when they started though both became experts and did well.

The other 70 plus year old had been an ophthalmologist. He decided to be a doctor, making his mother happy, and then picked his specialty based on the idea that he wouldn’t be called out in the middle of the night.

What stuck me about those three men is that they all simply walked away from their professions when they retired. They cancelled subscriptions to their professional publications and got on with, as one of them put it, “the life I earned.”

Tom and I were after self-fulfillment in some form. He loved sales and was good at it. Eventually he wound up growing a company and selling it off so he could go back and do it all again. I started out in the corporate world, found out that I wasn’t good at it, and wound up with a career where people would pay me to be interested in lots of things.

Our children see things differently. One is creating his career in construction. He got a degree in construction management. When he got out of school he got a job with a construction firm. He’s made three moves so far, one involuntary, and he’s still in the field. He loves it and the people he works with.

Another product of that generation didn’t know what she wanted to do. But she took a job because she needed to support her husband while he was in school. It was in customer service and she discovered that she was good at it. She loves her co-workers and helping others.

For the oldest among us on Labor Day, there was a strong practical focus: how can I make a good and steady living. Hence, there were two lives, the one in the chosen career and the one afterward.

For my generation it was all about self-fulfillment. For the youngest among us there was a different kind of practical focus. One picked a career based on interest. The other wound up in a career where she makes good money doing work she loves. Loving the work and the people you work with seems like the mantra.

This is hardly a scientific survey. It’s one Labor Day cookout with one limited selection of people from three generations. But there’s something that seems right about it. How are you making your career choices?