How to ... face your redundancy

1 DECIDE how much you want to survive if your name is on the exit list. 'You're sunk if you're in two minds,' says Richard Lynch of banking union Unifi. Unless the whole department is being closed, you can sometimes save your job by fighting. 'Most times you can get it sorted out if you make it clear you want to stay, you use the appeals mechanisms, try to swap with people who want to go and almost harass the human resources department to help you.' If the company is open to consultation - as, by law, it should be - it can probably reorganise its lists.

2 START negotiating as early as possible if you decide to take the loot and go. Many personnel officers are inept in handling the calculator - so you need to check their figures. Ensure holiday entitlement is included - and any other extras such as an inflation uprating. Understand that negotiations in a large, unionised business are completely different to those in small ones. Big employers often have room for manoeuvre. Small firms are more likely to forget about consultation. Don't let them do this - remind them of their duties or threaten them with an employment tribunal.

3 RECOGNISE that employers should be better at negotiating lay-offs now - and better at genuine consultation. Last year the maximum payment on unfair dismissal was raised from £12,000 to £50,000 - giving employers reason to get their procedures right.

4 APPRECIATE the rampant nature of ageism and the difficulties of getting employed if you are over 50. Management consultancy Right suggests 'interim management' assignments for middle managers - an acknowledgement that most companies are reluctant to put you permanently on the payroll but will consider temporary or casual work. People lower down the ladder will find job-seeking just as hard. 'Use your network effectively,' says Jo Bond of Right. You could find it easier to get a job this way than to send CVs to strangers who will focus on your age.

5 KEEP your CV and your morale going by doing voluntary work. If you slump into isolation and loneliness, you can find it very difficult to climb out.