What are you doing during this period of unemployment to increase your skills and marketability? Teach yourself new things. Learn new technology. Become better at taking initiative.
There is no shortage of information available to you online today. Much of it is F R E E. With extra time available, make the most of your unemployment by learning new things.
You may have noticed job ads requesting skills or technology you don’t have. Wouldn’t you feel more confident if you possessed some of them?
You can.
Create a list of things you want/need to learn and check out the following resources for courses to develop new skills.
MOOCs
MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Courses. Stanford, Harvard, MIT and many other universities have opened up their courses for public consumption. These are the top 3 according to this New York Times article.
COURSERA: There are 33 university partners
edX: Collaborative effort between M.I.T. ; Harvard; the University of California at Berkeley; and the University of Texas system
UDACITY: No university affiliation but started by a Stanford professor
Online Learning Opportunities
There are certainly many opportunities available to you for low- or no-cost. Ask around for recommendations. It all depends on what you want/need to learn. Here is a post I wrote with several recommendations for online learning at no-cost.
The Rest Is Up To You
Chances are, if you have a favorite, go-to source for job search information (or any favorite source), they offer free or low-cost webinars or videos.
Just like in the real-world of work, it is up to you to seek out opportunities to learn! Go for it!

Hannah Morgan speaks and writes about job search and career strategies. She founded CareerSherpa.net to educate professionals on how to maneuver through today’s job search process. Hannah was nominated as a LinkedIn Top Voice in Job Search and Careers and is a regular contributor to US News & World Report. She has been quoted by media outlets, including Forbes, USA Today, Money Magazine, Huffington Post, as well as many other publications. She is also author of The Infographic Resume and co-author of Social Networking for Business Success.