He recommends not taking the summer off, noting that looking for a job can be a full-time endeavor itself. Graber says job-seekers should do as much networking as possible, through talking with friends and associates, attending events, and participating in alumni clubs and nonprofit groups. Harris says many college career centers offer services to alumni free of charge or for a small fee.

Wisniewski, a Michigan native who graduated from Pepperdine University last year and moved to New York for a job as an editor at a jewelry-industry magazine, has found it tough to move on in a sluggish economy. She has interviewed with a handful of companies, including one in Kentucky that would require her to move again. "I don't want to leave New York, but I might have to," she says.

She says she worries because her short job tenure often comes up during interviews. "I don't want it to be a huge red flag," she says. She has considered omitting the nine-month stint from her resume, but is concerned that it will make her seem too inexperienced.

Wisniewski says that she has been advised that her layoff shouldn't be a problem once she explains it, as many hiring managers expect to see these situations in a poor economy. "Losing your job isn't the end of the world, of course, but it's still like getting a black eye," she says.

Professionals urge people who have been laid off not to lose perspective, and to try to grow from the experience. That was the case for Gerry Wilson, who says getting laid off turned out to be a good thing.

Wilson graduated from Princeton in 2000 and took a job with MicroStrategy Inc., an Internet software company. After two months training at company headquarters in Virginia, he headed to New York to begin work. The first day, he was told that his consultant position was being eliminated.

Wilson parlayed his expertise with MicroStrategy's software into another consulting position, making nearly double what his salary would have been. He later started consulting on his own and saved enough money to attend business school. There, he developed a plan for his own business, yoonew inc., an online exchange that lets sports fans bet on a shot at Super Bowl or World Series tickets, long before the event. He raised funding from angel investors and now runs yoonew.

"All I have done has been because I was laid off on my first day," he says.