> Well, for the first time in my life I am unemployed against my will.

Well do I know about that. The important thing is to keep your spirits up. It's not easy, but it's a lot harder, not just in the job search but at home as well, if being unemployed gets you too stressed and/or depressed.

If you're a U.S. resident, I assume you've been to your local unemployment office and signed up for unemployment benefits? If not, go today or tomorrow, because if you go Monday, you could lose out on a week of compensation.

The other thing is, if you look for jobs online, don't let it suffice to send a resume and have that be the end of it. Call people on the phone, too, unless the job description specifically says not to. ("I just sent you a resume, and I just wanted to verify with you that it got through. I'm very excited about this company!")

The fastest things moving right now -- and sometimes the only things really moving -- are referrals. You have a hundred times better shot at securing a position if you go through people you know, or even people that people you know know (follow THAT sentence!). This is what recruiters and contracting agencies were telling me, and I verified that with personal experience. When I was unemployed a couple months ago, the most promising job lead I had, other than the one for the job I actually took, was from a friend of a friend. Whereas earlier I was lucky if one in a hundred companies I randomly submitted resumes to called me back (I never took my own advice about calling, for one thing), this friend of a friend pushed me to come in for an interview, then persisted and tried to get me to reconsider after I turned him down (because I was in the process of accepting the job I have now). When I turned him down a second time, he asked me to refer people *I* knew, so I gave him the names of a couple friends of mine who were looking, and he took the initiative to contact them and get them in for an interview. At that point we were up to "friend of a friend of a friend," and that was still something more compelling to him than "Joe Schmoe sent his resume through the Internet."

So contact absolutely everybody you know. In particular, those people you know that are in your industry, or something vaguely like it. But don't limit it to those people, either. Contact your landlord, your mother's hairdresser, anyone and everyone. Call them, rather than mail them, because job referrals are the sort of thing people never seem to get around to doing.

You may know all of the above already, but if not, hope this helps. Good luck.

S "you aren't a software engineer in a commutable distance from the seacoast area of New Hampshire, are you?" am