- There is a bias among employers favoring workers who are already employed. If you can strike any kind of deal with your current firm to stay on part-time or at a reduced rate while you look, that might be worth doing.
- If you can't strike that deal, then treat getting a job as a job. It's very tempting to sleep in until 10 AM every morning when you no longer have an office you have to be at. Resist that temptation. Get out of bed, put on some decent professional-looking clothes, and get to work. This can't be emphasized enough. Finding a job is a job.
- And because it's a job, give yourself an outlet for getting away from it. Leave time for recreation. Take care of yourself. Put in your work and then have some fun.
- Along the it's-a-job lines, learn everything you can about doing this job well. Selling yourself is a skill. Learn as much as you can about resume-writing, interviewing, etc.
- Slash that burn rate. Having two months' normal expenses in the bank means nothing if your next paycheck is five months away.
- Recruiters get a bad rap sometimes, but the big-name national recruiters (TekSystems, Robert Half, a few others) can be very helpful.
- Do what you can to enhance that CV. If you're a programmer, look for open-source programs you can contribute to. If you're a netadmin or systems guy, get certified. Find a non-profit that will let you do XYZ, even if for little or no money. Surely there's a church or community group that could use a sprucing up of its website, or have its Windows workstations updated, or who have piles of Excel spreadsheets just crying out to be properly databaseized. Every little resume bit helps.
- Network, network, network.
- Let everyone in that network know you're looking. Some people get bashful or feel embarrassed that they lost their job. Don't fall into that. Remember that you have nothing to be ashamed of. And obviously someone was willing to hire your before. Someone else will again.
- I'm assuming you're young and still establishing yourself. If not then freely ignore, but:
- In terms of career planning it can be better to target the biggest companies you can. Rise through the ranks in a 5,000-employee enterprise and you'll find that when the time comes startups and small firms will fall all over themselves trying to get you as a VP or even director. Conversely, you might wind up limiting yourself long term if you work exclusively for small firms, since large enterprises tend to want people with large-enterprise experience. YMMV, depends on your personality & career goals.
- Resist the temptation to use this as a vacation. If you can establish yourself as a top person in your field, someone who will always be in demand, there will be plenty of time to take mid-career sabbaticals, even lengthy ones. Until you've found a way to differentiate yourself from the crowd, though, probably best to keep your nose to the grindstone.
- Good luck!