Dear Joyce: I am a 15-year veteran special education teacher, credentialing for and moving toward teaching in a computer lab. I've posted résumés on major Web sites. I'm starting to get discouraged. Can you offer a strategy or Web sites specifically targeted to my needs? -- J.B.

Dear Joyce: I am in the quality assurance field and for some reason am failing to succeed in my search for a new job. I've followed up on all the ads -- both on the Internet and in the newspaper -- but I'm not getting closure. I thought today's hot market would make this an ideal time to change jobs. Other than my age, 48, what's wrong? -- S.B.N.

Dear Joyce: A year ago at age 53, I received my college degree in computer science, plus some software certifications. I am very adept at using Internet resources, but I can't get through the doorway to an interview. So much for retraining and upgrading skills. Industry doesn't want "old guys,'' and my degree and certification didn't help at all. -- C.W.

Dear J.B., S.B.N. and C.W.: To digitally frustrated out-of-workers, try hugging a human. That is, rather than go quietly into retirement, become a contrarian when the new, automated, impersonal ways aren't working for you.

Companies report they're inundated with hundreds of thousands of online resumes each year, a volume that forces employers to increasingly turn to uncompromising prescreening testing and technical résumé management systems. These systems are programmed to exclude the overwhelming number of applicants.

Even if your résumé is not vaporized in a résumé databank because of your age (given away by graduation dates although you're careful to omit ancient history), you're still just a name -- a name that can be safely ignored. You are not a living, breathing person speaking on the other end of a telephone. You are not someone's friend, mother, uncle, acquaintance or known entity. Your mission: To become "real" in the mind of someone with hiring authority.

Among suggestions I offered in a 6-year-old book "Electronic Resume Revolution" on what to do when recruiting computers give you no respect is to use personal networking. "Read one or two of the numerous networking guides cover to cover."

Don't sit back in the comfort of your home firing résumé after résumé out of your computer. That isn't going to deliver the job interviews you need to get the offers you want. Adopt a phone-bank mentality -- call everyone and call often. Get out of the house and meet people who can add substance to your search. Keep asking "Whom should I be talking to?" Attend professional organization meetings and see how many referrals you can collect for follow-up action the next day.

You absolutely, positively must get into the presence of people who can make hiring decisions. As I said in my earlier book, "There is no better way to pass through the interviewing portals than on the coattails of a sponsor. You need a third party who knows the hiring authority well enough to get past the palace guard and deliver the message before the throne: There's someone you should meet ... you! When the machines seem to be beating you, use people to beat the machines."

And learn to accept to the numbers game. After several interviews, when an employer says, "We're checking your references," don't assume the job is yours and end your search. That could be a mistake that sets back your employment by weeks.

What's not apparent is that you may be a back-up choice in case the first choice says no. Get a firm, specific "must hire" date; don't fall for generalized assurances that the company needs to get someone on board as quickly as possible. Never quit looking until you're on the job, and maybe not until you've been there at least a week to make sure there are no surprises. Always have a handful of hot job prospects going at once because most jobs are not going to come your way.

When your digitally driven job search hits a wall, get personal. Use people to fight back.

Send career questions for possible use in this column to Joyce Lain Kennedy at Box 368, Cardiff, CA 92007, or e-mail her at jlk@sunfeatures.com. Sorry, no personal replies.

© 2000, Los Angeles Times Syndicate