I'm unemployed for 1 month now and I'm having a problem keeping my spirits up this season. I'm sure there are lots of other people out there in my boat. I thought perhaps we could share a thread once a week, or more often if there is demand, to discuss what we've been trying in our job hunt, share tips and tricks, and encourage each other.

I'll start: I do user interface design (technical type job for computers) but I'm kind of specialized, so there are very few jobs out there who want exactly what I do. I saw 2 posted this week; both were not in my area and did not want telecommuters. That is where I'm at, so I am exploring my options as to how I can sell myself to be eligible for more jobs. I have a good recruiter I'm working with, but he says there will not be a lot until January. I have a good prospect at one firm, but they told me this week they will not be hiring until January or February. So I have been having "informational interviews" with people in areas which are similar to mine, or with friends who are in a similar boat. I had one of these interviews Tuesday, one on Thursday, and I will have one on Saturday and a brainstorming session with friends on Sunday. Also, talking to my neighbors the other night, I think there is some demand for a unemployed / jobseekers support group in my neighborhood, so I am going to send an email to the neighborhood association head and ask them to forward it to the big email list to see if there are some people who want to do this.

In short, "Plan A" -- get a job in my field -- is looking very thin at the moment, so I am trying to brew ideas for Plans B, C, and D. However, I am living off my savings and this is not good, so I am probably going to have to look in to getting some kind of "anything" job, sooner rather than later if I can.

How about the rest of you guys, what are you doing, what are you trying to do, and how are you holding up?