Ronald Reagan once said: "A recession is when your friend loses their job. A depression is when you lose yours."

We're hovering on the edge of a recession and having well honed job hunting skills is something which is increasingly important for American and European workers.

Just out of interest – Americans get frantic about a possible recession when the unemployment rate goes over 5%. However, in many European countries, the normal unemployment rate is closer to 10% - this is largely due to different measurement standards and a higher percentage of people receiving government assistance. On the other hand, it is a lot harder to fire someone in most European countries.

Our first piece of job search advice is to examine your monthly income versus your expenses and also to look at the rate at which you will go through your savings if you become unemployed.

Obviously, the longer that you can afford to spend looking for a job before you burn through your saving, the better off you will be in the long run. While you look for work, you may be able to do freelance work, if this is applicable to your field. In fact, in some fields, such as copywriting, editing and programming, you can make a good income on the side this way.

Our next piece of job search advice is to get all of your ducks in a row when it comes to job hunting. Get your resume or CV into shape and come up with cover letters which explain exactly why you are the best candidate for the position. After any interview, send a thank you note – write one at the same time as you write your cover letter and prepare it for mailing in case you land an interview. Take it with you and mail it on your way home from the interview.

Get organized with your job search. Make good notes of your activity so you don’t duplicate your efforts or forget things.

You also have to be prepared to put in the effort required to find a new job. You'll be making a large number of phone calls and sending out a lot of resumes each week. You'll also have to spend plenty of time following up on all of these calls and resumes. Remember that volume is the name of the game here. Don't make the mistake of focusing on just one job and feeling down if you don't get it.

You'll have to be flexible enough to accept temp-to-hire positions or if necessary, work through a temporary agency or staffing company. You may have to relocate - look at the positives of the situation.

If things are slow, then think about enhancing your skills by getting additional certifications, taking classes or getting any additional training needed to get a leg up in the job market.

Last of all, keep an eye out for jobs which are both publicly posted and non-posted. Remember that even in good economic times, less than 20% of jobs are publicly posted. Talk to people and ask them about positions which are not advertised. You can safely assume that any job which is posted online is being deluged with applicants.