CLEVELAND -- The unemployment rate for the state of Ohio is nearly 11 percent, and local career centers are jammed with people trying to find work.

Marie Springers is one of those people. She has spent the last four months looking for a job after she was laid off from a local manufacturing plant in February. She's actually been let go six times by the same company. So what do you do if you get a pink slip?

Experts said don't burn any bridges. You want to leave on good terms. If you get called into human resources, a few tears are acceptable, but then gather the gumption to ask the important questions.

Bill Smith with Great Lakes Retirement Group said to ask if there will be any severance pay. Then ask about health care.

Smith said, "If their company is a Cobra-filing company, then their health care should be covered for nine months."

Thanks to a new law, the government will likely pay 65 percent of that cost. And before your last day, you need to know what to do with your 401(k) Smith said, "A lot of folks are tempted to tap into their 401(k)."

But keep in mind you'll lose 20 percent in fees and taxes.

If your company won't allow you to leave your money in their 401(k) plan, roll it over. Smith said, "Someone who's 35 should really consider a roll over into a Roth IRA."

If you're getting cash for unpaid vacation or sick time, remember it'll be taxed, too. But there is a tax-free place to stash the extra cash. "Maybe you have an opportunity to max out your 401(k) on a one-time lump sum," Smith said.

As for Springers, she's been tuning up her math skills, and attending resume and interviewing workshops. With two kids still at home, she said she is dreading the day when her unemployment fund runs out.