For Phillip 'P. J.' Stambaugh, the glamour and gold of the dotcom boom swept him from Ithaca, N.Y. to California's Silicon Valley in 1999. And when Trishna Shah selected a job at an e-commerce strategy group after graduating from college last year, it was part of a carefully planned path to 'success'. Both were beneficiaries of the technology boom of the late 1990s, and both are now among its victims. Yet for many, losing a job is proving more of a beginning than an end. Painful and frightening as the process may be, individuals caught in the dotcom downdraft say they are making fundamental changes-the kind that could, in total, alter the outlook and values of many in their generation. One thing is already certain. The character portrait of the dotcom generation, spoiled, self-centered, and unacquainted with the real world, is rapidly disappearing. In its place, a culture is emerging that puts greater emphasis on growth and opportunity at work, and less on salary and stock options. And for many, there is a deeper questioning of the meaning of life and career, say career guidance experts. This is a far cry from the work-is-everything, sleep under-the desk, never-log-off, get-it-while-you-can mentality that has permeated the Internet culture. Ms. Shah graduated from University of California Berkeley's business school last year and found a waiting court of recruiters. She selected work at an e-commerce strategy group, and the pieces were all fitting together. But when Shah was laid off earlier this year, 'it was a real wake-up call,' she says. 'In college you're constantly planning for the next phase of life, your job and your career, 'she explains. 'But now I'm feeling different. I'm not living just for the next step.' At about the same time Mr. Stambaugh was still thriving at his job in Redwood City. He worked in business-development department of a start up that created Internet map technology. But that wasn't what he had in mind when he entered Cornell University and successfully pursued a degree in landscape architecture, a field that connected with his love of the outdoors and plants. After graduation in 1999, though, Stambaugh headed to Silicon Valley, persuaded by friends who were quickly landing jobs and making good money. But by last fall, Stambaugh was sending pained e-mails to his sister back east. In one, he complained that his work to create better and better Internet products had become 'absent of the things I value.' The economy, in a sense, put an end to his disillusionment, forcing his dotcom out of business a few months ago. These days, Stambaugh has less money, but an out door tan and high spirits. He is project manager for a landscape firm, spending most of his day meeting with customers and discussing their gardening and landscape dreams. 'I'm a different individual now,' he says. 'I'm happy on a real high level.' Of course there are many still employed in the Internet world, and loving it. But even among the employed, there is a new uncertainty. The unemployment rate in Santa Clara Country for April jumped sharply, a reminder that the flow of pink slips could continue to accelerate. Even for many of those who continue to work in technology, attitudes seem different. Says Mr. Epperheimer: 'The pendulum has moved back to a more balanced approach to work and life.' The experience of Ms. Shah and Mr. Stambaugh is described mainly to show that______.