[josefdlange]

1. Yep. Very small company which made it all the more painful as my former colleagues have become close friends. The hard lesson? The bottom line makes exceptions for no one.

2. Yes and no. Emotionally, yes. I felt a lot more desperate and took negative signals in the process far more personally. No in that I think the market is chilly to begin with and so my layoff was not a contributing factor to how the process went.

3. Nah, if anything it socially improved my life. Got back into touch with a number of former colleagues/friends and had more time to shore up my personal life while going through my job search.

All in all this sucks, no way around it. But we're gonna make it through.