Losing one's job can be a shocking, humiliating, terrifying experience. Fortunately, in this day and age, more people have been there than you would ever think. One of these people is writer Jennifer van der Kwast, who knows so much about being unemployed that she titled her new novel Pounding the Pavement. She has some tips for you, the unemployed (or soon to be unemployed.)

I used to believe that there could be nothing worse - nothing more miserable, nothing more pathetic - than not having a job. But once I finally landed a job I hated, I learned better.

While I had been unemployed, I kept a thorough record in my journal of every painful rejection, every interview gone horribly wrong and every idiot headhunter who offered useless resume revision suggestions. It took me awhile before I felt brave enough to reread the journal passages and, when I did, my reaction surprised me. Events that I thought would be hard to revisit - humiliating, painful passages I thought would make me cringe and shudder - instead made me laugh. Man, I thought. I didn't know how good I had it!

With the gift of 20/20 hindsight, I decided to write a novel based my job hunting experiences. Reliving my unemployment gave me a chance to experience it the way I should have from the very beginning - with giddy, reckless enthusiasm.

And so, if it I were to do it all over again, these are some of the changes I wouldn't hesitate to make.

Interview for Everything

When I was naïve enough to believe I would have no problem securing another job in the much-coveted media industry, I made the mistake of vastly limiting my job search. After several months, when I realized the jobs I really wanted weren't going to be so readily available, I reluctantly gave in to my headhunter' demands and agreed to widen my scope. Originally, I figured I would interview for jobs I had no intention of taking just for the extra practice. What I didn't realize was these interviews also turned out to be an excellent source of material. If nothing else, I could leave an interview with at least three new story ideas and several eccentric new characters.

Network

Yes, it's hard to smile and act gracious when you know that deadly question - "So, what do you do?" - is always just thirty seconds away. But finding the perfect job is often just a case of dumb luck, and the best way to improve your odds is to be at as many right places at as many right times as possible. For a sixty-five dollar annual fee, I joined Stellar Networks in New York, where I happily drank my money's worth of free booze and chatted up similarly unemployed writers and filmmakers. Did I score any great jobs leads while attending the events? Sadly, no. But did I meet a member who would eventually put me in touch with the literary agent who sold my novel? Yes! Expanding your rolodex is never a bad thing.

Keep in Touch

You may lose a job, but you don't have to lose your colleagues. Believe it or not, the same ass-kissing coworker you resented at the office may prove to be your biggest ally during your unemployment. More often or not, these are the people who can provide you with the best job leads, and a recommendation on their behalf may even cinch the deal. But even if they can't forward you information on job openings, there are other bones they can toss your way. Thanks to my former, film company colleagues, I managed to keep myself afloat (although, just barely) with fairly interesting and incredibly useless freelance gigs. Once, I was asked to transcribe a typewritten screenplay for a screenwriter who refused to use a computer. I also managed to live off fairly regular work as a reader for several New York-based film studios. For seventy dollars, I'd read a screenplay, write a synopsis, cough up a few paragraphs of "comments," then email it off. If I did these reports at night, my day was entirely free for interviews.

Don't Settle

After hearing the word "no" so often throughout the course of your unemployment, the word "yes" may come as such a shock, you'll jump at the opportunity to kiss your jobless days goodbye. But, beware: a "Good Enough For Now" job can seriously impose on your job search if you're still on the lookout for a bigger, better offer. And, if things don't work out, explaining to an interviewer why you want to leave a current job is a lot trickier than simply admitting you are unemployed and waiting it out for the Perfect Job. People are looking for reliable, committed employees-you don't want them thinking you could bolt at any moment.

Enjoy!

The hardest part of being unemployed is having enough faith in yourself to believe that you will find another job. With a nifty severance package, continuing health coverage (that should last up to a month) and a weekly unemployment check, you should be able to stretch your finances far enough to last you at least a month or two, if not more. So, relax and enjoy the time off. Once you finally do get a job, you'll be kicking yourself for not taking better advantage of your long lost freedom.

Don't believe me? The next time you shudder with embarrassment when you tell people you're unemployed, pay particular attention to their reactions. Did you catch that wistful look in their eyes? That's envy.