Dear Joyce: My former employer moved the business to Mexico, and I have not been able to find a comparable position in my city. I have sent my résumé to several headhunters and followed up with telephone calls, but nothing much has resulted. Am I wasting my time with headhunters? -- K.R.

Dear K.R.: Even in times of high employment, scoring a headhunter's interest when you're unemployed is right up there with pointing and clicking your way out of debt with a home-equity loan: Take care how you do it.

Improve your success rate by taking advice from Alan R. Schonberg, chairman of Management Recruiters International. In his new book, "Headhunters Confidential" ($14.95; McGraw-Hill), Schonberg tackles the topic head-on: "Be prepared to explain convincingly why you're not employed."

When you follow the money, you'll remember that that headhunters, who are third-party recruiters, are paid by the employer. They're paid to deliver primo goods. To position yourself as a "winning product," Schonberg urges an understanding of why unemployment is considered undesirable.

"One reason is an unemployed person is usually too aggressive, or, at the other extreme, too laid back." Schonberg, who heads one of the world's dominant search and recruitment organizations with 5,000 headhunters in 1,000 offices, says that scared, confidence-lacking executives who've been out of circulation for an extended period may rattle and chatter on, overcompensating for how they really feel. Some belligerently resist the headhunter's advice, and others look like they're about to fall asleep.

To overcome the natural reaction of hiring authorities who think, "There must be something wrong with that person if he's unemployed,'' Schonberg offers these pointers: