They hear the stories about how the economy is turning around, and they truly want to believe it. Some are even cautiously optimistic that a job with their name on it is just around the corner.
But until that happens, they are part of an unprecedented trend. For the past 29 months, one-fifth of the nation's jobless people captured in federal statistics have been out of work for more than 27 weeks, which qualifies them as "long-term unemployed."
And unlike previous periods, many of those job seekers have college degrees and solid professional experience.
"People are just inundated with resumes," said Carol McHugh, a 49-year-old former systems engineer, who took a buyout offer in 2003 after 13 years at Verizon. "So you just have no idea whether yours hits their desk or the trash can."
Although the severance package was good, the search for new employment has been longer and harder than McHugh imagined.
"It's hard when you're someone who has been sought out for jobs," she said of her job search. "I think I have a good background, a college degree and worked for some good companies. I've traveled and lived on the road for my job and even relocated. Now at 49 I can't find a job."
Likewise, Alan Elsroad, 53, didn't expect to be out of a job for longer than six months when his position as a sales engineer/account manager was eliminated by Qwest Communications in April 2001. He had worked for the company that eventually became Qwest for 28 years, starting as a cable splicer.
"One of the common things I hear from companies is that I'm overqualified for positions," he said. "But companies are putting a price tag on me before they even discuss salary. My salary needs today are entirely different than in 2000."
While there have been periods when the share of long-term unemployed has been higher, it has never remained above 20 percent for so long, economists note. And when the jobless rate shrank, as it has lately, the share of long-term unemployed traditionally shrank along with it. That hasn't been the case this time around.
"It could be the case there is some structural change going on in the economy," said Sylvia Allegretto, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C.
"But it's definitely related to weak jobs growth."
Many of the folks facing hardships are professionals who thought they had done everything right in nurturing their careers, said George Fleming, whose Phoenix firm, Momentum Coaching Resources, offers career transition consulting. But the nature of the economy and the incessant corporate cost-cutting has taken its toll.
It doesn't help that the Valley doesn't have many corporate headquarters, a traditional source of good jobs.
"Job searches are getting shorter, but I'm also seeing the number (of job seekers) coming into a search has not abated," Fleming said.
Lan Smith, 34, and her husband made a carefully thought-out decision to relocate to Phoenix from London four years ago. For two years, she worked as a national sales representative for America West Airlines. But she was laid off last year and hasn't landed a new job since. Even with a master's degree from Kingston University in England, she has found the job market to be tough.
"Every month I listen to what the government is saying about the economy getting better, but their statistics don't capture the big picture," she said. "I've met many people who have been out of work for more than six months and their unemployment benefits have run out. So they've fallen off the face of the Earth as far as the government is concerned."
Scott Wales, 45, a former controller for a manufacturer, Rexam Beverage Can, envisioned a six-month time frame to find a comparable job to the one he was let go from in February 2002 when a new management team was brought in. Armed with solid experience and a master's degree in business administration from Northwestern University, he figured the odds were on his side for quick re-entry into the labor force.
Instead, the search has dragged on to the point that he's now doing temporary contract work.
"I never thought it would take this long," he said. "I figured I'd be back in play by the summer of 2003."
He has gotten close a few times, but in the end, he says, the employer opted for a "more economical" candidate.
Therein lies a big issue for job seekers: How much of a pay cut will they accept?
Wales felt strongly about maintaining his salary range at or near what he was making at his old job - mid- to high $70,000s. Although he's willing to go down $10,000 for the right opportunity, he's not willing to go much below that.
"If I dropped down to $50,000 a year, it would be where I was when I moved to the Valley 16 years ago," he said. "I don't think my value has stayed at that level."
Arlene Larsen, vice president at Right Management Consultants, which works with laid-off workers on career transition and employment opportunities, said salary requirements are personal decisions made by the job seeker and are largely driven by personal circumstances. But even when job seekers are willing to significantly lower their expectations, employers can still be skittish about hiring them.
"Companies are often reluctant to hire them because they think they will leave as soon as a better job comes up," she said.
Employers still hold all the cards, job seekers say.
Judy Moore, 49, says she and her husband moved here last summer with a nest egg from the sale of their Los Angeles home. So her unemployment hasn't yet led to desperation. She knew it would be difficult to continue her career as a freelance assistant director here, but she figured her master's in public administration specializing in arts/entertainment management would lead to a position.
"The job market here doesn't really know what to do with someone like me," she said. "They make it seem like you did something wrong."
Employers seem to be looking for someone who has most, if not all, the skills for the available job. Training is not part of the plan for many.
"If they are 80 percent close and we see they have the aptitude to fill the gap, then they become desirable people to contact," said Alan Castillo, president of Castillo Technologies, a government contractor in Tempe that provides information technology services to the military.
That competitive environment coupled with the impersonal nature of the job hunt has many job seekers at wit's end.
"The worst thing is not getting any feedback at all," said McHugh, the former Verizon employee.
"Companies used to say thank you for your resume. They don't seem to do that. I guess they don't have the manpower or they don't want to spend the money."
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