[Editor's Note: This is the second in a series of guest posts by Hallie Goertz, one of hundreds of people who have lost jobs in the Seattle tech sector in recent months. Read the first here.]

The economic news just isn’t getting any better, locally or nationally. WaMu layoffs were finally officially announced and we learned that the U.S. economy has been a recession for the past year. Good times.

Nearly every job I’ve ever been offered has been a result of a personal connection, be it a part-time fundraising position offered by a college friend’s dad or a consulting gig I learned about from a grad school alum. Given the current job market, I can’t help but believe that these networks are going to land me my next position, not a random listing on craigslist or some other job posting/networking site with thousands of others in similar positions anonymously vying for work, e.g., Monster, CareerBuilder, sologigs, LinkedIn. (Is it just me, or is it really frustrating that these sites all ask for the same information but the questions differ just enough to make creating a profile an afternoon-long endeavor rather than a quick cut and paste?)

This is not to say that I haven’t been using these sites. I do have a bit of time on my hands and want to be sure that my bases are covered. But I’m putting most of my effort into reaching out to colleagues and friends, friends and colleagues of colleagues and friends, etc., etc.

My one regret at this point in my unemployment journey is that I lost about five days of quality search time at the beginning because I didn’t share the news of my layoff with my personal network as soon as I learned of my fate. I waited until my first day of unemployment to send out the note (along, of course, with an updated copy of my resume).

I probably would have waited a few days longer if not for learning that my old boss was having my work email forwarded to him, which included some personal messages. Yes, I sometimes received personal email at work! Nothing salacious, but the poor guy had enough on his plate without having to wade through the back-and-forth of who was going to bring what to the potluck on Sunday. (For the record, I’m glad we went with mulled wine instead of egg nog. )

I had been procrastinating on sending out this missive because I was still coming to terms with my new status and honestly was embarrassed and not sure how to share the news. I’m a pretty independent person and dreaded having to explain the situation over and over (see feelings of self-loathing and -doubt in previous post), yet I knew that it needed to be done, and by necessity I needed to do it Band-Aid style, i.e., rip it off.

So, I sent out an email entitled New Direction:

Hi all - Yesterday was my last day at [X Company]. My position was eliminated during a reorganization designed to cut costs.

Of course, this represents a significant change in my life, but I am really excited about my future and new professional opportunities.

I will be reaching out to many of you in the next few days to help me strategize about next steps.

In the near term I can be reached at: halliegoertz@hotmail.com.

Best -
Hallie

It shouldn’t have been a such a surprise, but within minutes of sending out my note I was receiving calls and emails of support asking, “What can I do to help?” and “You should talk to Susie,” or “I’m going to forward your resume to Charlie. OK?”.

As a result, I’ve spent many hours over the last few weeks having coffee with people, and eating lunch with their friends, and going to fundraisers and functions with colleagues who want me to meet their colleagues. And, it’s been, well, kind of fun. It really is fun to hear about the interesting things that people are working on, and brainstorming how I might be able to get involved.

I’ve also been talking to the executive director of a local food bank that I’ve made financial contributions to in the past about volunteering, and I've signed up to do some pro bono evaluation work for the local branch of a national health nonprofit.

And, to better position myself for contract and consulting work, I finally formalized my previously ad hoc independent consultancy and creatively named it HJG Consulting.

So, though I haven’t landed a project yet, nor am I very close to finding a full-time position, I do have a couple of possibilities on the horizon.

I know my efforts are far from comprehensive. Tell me: Where else should I be looking? Who else should I be speaking with? What events should I be attending?

TO BE CONTINUED…

Hallie Goertz can be reached at halliegoertz@hotmail.com