Your career comeback doesn't end the moment you find a new job. It may take time before you regain confidence in your new work environment and professional abilities. Perhaps you'll take detours or encounter bumps in the road before you feel life is back to normal.

Your final step is a transition. You'll move into a new organization or perhaps a new career or lifestyle. Even after you've met the most difficult career challenges, there's still work to be done to ensure you don't become vulnerable in your job situation. Over time, you'll establish patterns of success and use the hard-won lessons you've learned in making your comeback. As you adjust to your new situation, consider the following advice.

Now that you're back in the saddle, let your professional contacts know about your new job and employer. Soon after you're settled in the new position, place phone calls, mail an announcement or send an e-mail with your new contact information.

Make a special effort to update those who helped you network, offered advice and provided job leads. If you secured your new position through a contact, referral or introduction, be sure to do something special for that person in return. It doesn't have to be anything extraordinary or expensive. A handwritten note, bottle of wine, restaurant gift certificate or flowers will do.

Bonds are forged in a crisis. You may have met many people during your job search and built strong connections and a rapport with some of them. Those relationships may prove helpful to you professionally, while a few may develop into friendships that you'll cherish for years.

A career comeback teaches us about our character and the character of others. Now that you have found your next gig and are moving on, don't lose sight of the people on whom you relied. Stay in touch and remember who was there for you.

Putting your career back on track takes an enormous weight off your shoulders. But time is the only thing that can make your recovery complete -- not a job, money or a new title.

Even after you've been working for a while, feelings of uncertainty can linger. As a professional who had been laid off twice in 18 months put it: "It's nerve-racking to jump through all these hoops to get the job, and, now that I have it, I feel pressure that everything is riding on this."

This feeling is common and takes a while to go away. No one relishes the idea of plunging into a second job search, so it isn't unusual to want to cling to a new position for dear life. You may feel excited or relieved by your new job or career, but feeling secure in it takes time.

If you've been through a traumatic setback, your recovery may take even longer. It's like a relationship ending. You've moved on, but the pain hasn't yet subsided. If you've begun a new relationship, but were badly burned and vowed "never again" after your last, you'll likely remain guarded until you re-establish your trust. Only then will you feel comfortable and free.

Consider my friend, a longtime bachelor. He's a nice-looking attorney who has no problem dating. Once I asked why he's never settled down. He said, "I'm not yet the person the type of woman I'd marry would want." That struck me. He knew who and where he was in his life, but, more importantly, he had a vision of the person he needed to become to attract his desired type of partner.

Applying this logic to your work life can help you formulate a career strategy. Are you the type of professional or executive you want to be? Are you the kind of employee your ideal employer would seek out? If not, consider what's missing and what steps you need to take to fit that profile. Write down the qualities of the type of professional or manager you aspire to be.

You're a clean slate. There's no baggage or preconceived notions to follow you. You have an opportunity to reinvent yourself and start fresh. Think of these attributes as you begin this next phase of your career, and turn yourself into the professional you want to become.