I was laid off during 2002, during the peak of the dotcom bubble burst. Effectively I was out of work for 3 months, but didn't find full-time work for 9 months. I ended up having to borrow money from my parents to make ends meet (all payed back now).
At the time, I was very well versed in Delphi and was pretty good with C#, SQL, MDX, and various web technologies.
I spent my morning looking for new jobs, then in the afternoon I was writing my own MDX library for .Net (MDX is the Microsoft Analysis Services language/API). Eventually I was hired on by a contracting firm where I stayed for about 4 years.
My Take aways: My best advice is to stay connected with the community. Find a developer group that meets regularly, attend and present. I also learned I suck at running my own business.
At the time, I was very well versed in Delphi and was pretty good with C#, SQL, MDX, and various web technologies.
I spent my morning looking for new jobs, then in the afternoon I was writing my own MDX library for .Net (MDX is the Microsoft Analysis Services language/API). Eventually I was hired on by a contracting firm where I stayed for about 4 years.
My Take aways: My best advice is to stay connected with the community. Find a developer group that meets regularly, attend and present. I also learned I suck at running my own business.