In a recent wsj.com article, Joanie Ruge, senior vice president at Adecco North America, a staffing company based in Melville, N.Y, urged:

Look for temporary, project-based work by contacting an employment agency like Adecco. These jobs offer excellent opportunities to network and learn a new skill or industry, plus you can still interview for permanent jobs. The stigma used to be that temp work was for administrative assistants and that's not really the case today. Contract employment is for really all people with skill sets and at all career levels, and there are opportunities in all industries and professions.

That sounds so familiar...