"It feels like a huge burden has been lifted from my shoulder," said Goodridge, who was featured in The Sun in an article about more 20-something workers getting laid off during this recession. She lost her $65,000-a-year contract in January when seed money dried up at an Internet start-up.
"It's generally uplifting for my morale. It makes me feel good that every day I could do something that I want to do and start advancing my career."
Goodridge, who graduated from the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business in May, approached her job search aggressively, attending networking events, meeting new people and staying in contact with industry players.
Along the way, she found what worked and what didn't.
Using job posts didn't lead anywhere; "it started to become a black hole," she said.
Goodridge says she became more selective about networking, pinpointing organizations and people who were more willing to help her find opportunities. She was diligent about staying in contact with a small group of people who know her, and in fact, it was one of her contacts who told her about the job at Snikiddy.
Goodridge also took a part-time waitressing job, which she'll keep.
To keep her skills and morale up, Goodridge volunteered for the American Marketing Association and launched a budget-friendly cooking Web site - www.cookingwithcoupons.com - that combines her love of cooking, need to save money and skills with online start-ups.
"For me, it was keeping my mind busy and active," she says. "Something to show people that I am still continuously working on something."
