Having started my career in 1999 (and if you could spell C++, you were pretty well guaranteed at job at a good salary), I remember two things...

- 2000-20001 - "small" recession, along with the dot-com bubble bursting. Lasted through 2003 or so, though the bulk of job loss (across industries) was 2001 into 2002.

- 2008-2010 - housing market collapse - world-wide impact. Most of us probably remember that period. It as brutal for everybody, not just STEM grads. Too big to fail and all that hocus-pocus.

I was RIF'ed in Dec 2001, took a few months to find a job I wanted, but wasn't all that bad given I was pretty darn junior at the time.

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tracker1 6 days ago | parent [-]

Yeah, I was/am in Phoenix where it seemed to trail about 8 months... it totally dropped here after 9/11 though. I remember effectively having the plague looking for work through 2002. Was working pretty regularly again by the end of 2003 though... those were a couple rough years though.

	▲	alistairSH 6 days ago \| parent [-]
		DC metro here. My initial job hunting in early 2002 was rough - lots of laid off contractors and dot-com folk. Job fairs were a total bust - too many people to get noticed, especially as a junior dev without any .gov contracting experience (no TS/poly etc). Got a few interviews and offers in the defense industry, but the lack of TS/poly was a killer - even companies that were willing to do the paperwork had deadlines and Uncle Sam couldn't process request fast enough so a few offers died on the vine. Eventually got a job through a friend (usually how it works, IME) and have been here ever since. Not .gov, but sort of government-adjacent (higher ed) so still a bit protected from the vagaries of the market and moneymen's whims.