When her New York-based employer announced plans to relocate to the Midwest, a 44-year-old marketing vice president agreed to accept a severance package to remain on the East Coast.

In the course of her job search, she heard about an opening for a senior marketing VP at a local consumer-products company, and contacted the search firm that was handling the assignment. Inadvertently, the recruiter faxed to her the position's complete specifications, which stated that the company would consider only currently employed candidates. Despite her stellar credentials and history of accomplishment, the former VP was out of the running even before the race had begun.

A decade ago, unemployed job hunters were outcasts. Hiring managers and recruiters agreed that if you were jobless, there must be a good reason. But times have changed. Layoffs are so common now that few candidates believe there's still a lingering stigma associated with unemployment. Of course, you may feel that former colleagues and potential employers treat you differently once you're on the street, but you're probably being hypersensitive. The scarlet letter of unemployment has vanished, say career counselors. Unfortunately, they're only partially correct.

While it's true that candidates who were let go in a massive layoff tend to avoid the stigma of unemployment, those who lost jobs because their positions were eliminated face a greater challenge landing new positions, according to a study of human resources professionals. And despite claims to the contrary, employed candidates tend to earn job offers more often than their unemployed colleagues.

How Results Were Gathered

Asking hiring professionals about their stereotypes regarding unemployed candidates isn't an effective way to generate honest results. Few would be able or willing to admit to holding such biases. Instead, our research study simulated a real-world situation. We created a resume and accompanying cover letter for a hypothetical finance manager, then altered them slightly to reflect three different circumstances. One version portrays the manager as employed, a second shows that his position was eliminated in a massive corporate restructuring, and the third indicates that the manager's specific position was eliminated, reflecting a more "personal" layoff.

The survey targeted human-resources professionals who are responsible for screening resumes, developing candidate slates and interviewing. A total of 44 HR professionals in financial services and consumer-goods companies participated.

What Was Measured

Each HR professional was asked to review a cover letter and resume as part of a resume-design study, not a study about unemployment. After reading the material, respondents completed a brief survey that included three key questions about the candidate described in the resume:

• Would you bring this person in for an interview?
• Would you hire this person for an appropriate position?
• Would this person be successful at your company?

Respondents answered using a five-point scale, with one showing strong disagreement and five strong agreement. The results for the three key questions were surprising. Unemployed managers who lost their positions in a public, massive restructuring had the same chance of earning interviews as employed managers (both rated 3.5 on the scale). But when only the candidate's position was eliminated, job hunters were less likely to earn a meeting with a decision-maker in person, although this difference was small (3.1 vs. 3.5).

If you're unemployed and earn an interview, you still face an uphill battle as well, although perhaps less steep than before. While the employed manager stands a slightly better chance of earning an offer, the advantage is slight, compared to the chances of the manager caught up in a downsizing (3.1 vs. 2.8). The fight is fiercer for the person whose position was eliminated in an isolated termination (2.6).

These seemingly positive results are offset by the finding that employed managers are perceived to have a greater likelihood of success once hired than their unemployed counterparts. All three types of candidates were rated using eight critical success behaviors for new hires developed by New York career-guidance author Martin Yate:

• goal orientation (being motivated to achieve goals)
• positive expectancy (optimism)
• ability to make smart decisions
• personal influence (persuasiveness with others)
• organizational action (getting things done)
• informed risk-taking
• flexible thinking, and
• inner openness (emotional adaptability).

"With the tremendous wave of downsizing in corporate America, I noticed that some people bounced back more quickly than others," says Mr. Yate. "Those who recovered and were able to get re-employed had certain things in common. After conducting exhaustive research on the topic, I found that those who were career buoyant and could successfully bounce back from a downsizing had developed these eight career behaviors."

After surveying respondents, it became clear that in all eight categories, it's better to be employed than not. Unemployed managers are viewed as lacking in several of these critical areas, including inner openness and the ability to make smart decisions, organize their actions, take informed risks and set goals.

What It Means

Most hiring managers look beyond employment status in their search for top talent, so unemployed managers should be able to land as many interviews as their employed peers. However, they should expect to face subtle, negative perceptions.

The source of these perceptions varies, ranging from a feeling of "it's your own fault" to "you should have seen it coming." The behavior of some unemployed managers feeds this stereotype. Taking time off from your search to travel or catch up on reading are attractive alternatives to networking, mailing resumes and researching potential employers. Yet these behaviors will hurt your chances at a time when you need to do everything you can to combat negative stereotypes.

To launch a successful search, start by adopting realistic expectations. Don't take yourself out of the running by assuming that landing a job offer is an impossible task. When the recruiter fails to return your call for the fourth time, you must persevere.

Next, you'll have to fight harder than your employed competition. You must learn to overcome negative perceptions by showing that you're hard-working and motivated. Follow up doggedly, research thoroughly and spend at least five days each week job hunting from early morning until late in the day. Your resume, cover letters, interviewing style and phone skills need to be carefully crafted.

Even after you get your foot in the door, you'll have to show that you have what it takes to help improve the company's bottom line. "Find examples from your past which demonstrate that you have emotional flexibility, decisiveness and motivation, and that you can take reasonable risks and function efficiently," says Mr. Yate.

You might not be asked questions about these areas because interviewers may have already made up their minds about you, consciously or otherwise. In those cases, it's up to you to prove yourself. Talk about your accomplishments and traits, and show interviewers that you have what it takes. Don't let them think that your joblessness dealt a fatal blow to your attitude and career aspirations.

-- Dr. Caruso is a psychologist and Mr. Harris is president at Harris-McCully Associates Inc., a New York outplacement, executive-coaching, executive-search and human-resources consulting firm.