[bryanlarsen]

I'm friends of friends of a couple 2002 CS grads, which was much worse for tech than 2009. All of them ended up working outside of tech. It's really hard to work for a couple of years doing non-tech stuff and then try getting a new grad job when you're no longer a new grad.

My recommendation is a Master's degree if you really want to stay in tech.

[jcadam]

I graduated in 2002 with a BSCS. Went into the Army for 4 years, and was able to get an entry level CS job afterwards with a defense contractor (left the Army with a clearance).

Though, at that point, it was actually a pretty significant pay cut from my Army pay (I was an O-3 by the time I got out).

[ghaff]

Dot-bomb was winter in the US. I quickly lucked into a position with someone I knew, not a developer role but in tech. Were still some very rough times and my comp wasn't great for the better part of that decade. But things could easily have been much worse.

[HappySweeney]

I graduated in Nov 2001, and had to do non-tech for almost a year. After that it was small intermittent contracts for another year.