JOB-HUNTING EXPENSES rank high among commonly overlooked deductions.

Tax advisers say many people don't realize they may be able to deduct job-search expenses, whether or not they get a new job. Eligible expenses can include the costs of travel, resume preparation and employment agencies. The basic rule: Job-search expenses typically are deductible to the extent that they and other miscellaneous itemized deductions exceed 2% of adjusted gross income.

People searching for work in a new business or trade, or looking for work for the first time, aren't eligible. The Internal Revenue Service also says taxpayers can't deduct anything if there was a "substantial lack of continuity" between the end of a person's last job and the search for a new one, says Martin Nissenbaum of Ernst & Young. But "the amount of time spent searching shouldn't affect your ability to take a deduction as long as you don't substantially delay the beginning of your search," Mr. Nissenbaum says.

Whatever the case, tax advisers say it's very important to keep detailed records to support your job-search expenses.

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RESTAURATEURS HOPE a rule change will add more older workers to their ranks.

The recent House vote to repeal the Social Security earnings limit, which penalizes people age 65 to 69 who earn more than a certain amount, is a bright spot on the hiring horizon for restaurants. (The measure next goes to the Senate.) Bill McCormick, co-owner of McCormick & Schmick Management Group, Portland, Ore., says some seniors in its work force have turned down its requests to work more hours because of the earnings limit.

The National Restaurant Association pushes hard for the repeal, noting restaurants now employ more than 400,000 people over age 55 -- a number it says could double by 2030. About 26,000 workers at McDonald's restaurants are 65 or older, and some curb hours due to the earnings limit, says McDonald's Corp. At Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group Inc.'s flagship New York steakhouse, 20% of waiters are over 65 and the chain features senior waiters in ads.

Smith & Wollensky restaurants call local American Association of Retired Persons branches for leads when hiring.

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BIG PAY for directors of small companies comes to light in a new study.

The average corporate director of a small company earned $44,000 in total compensation in 1999, says the National Association of Corporate Directors, Washington. While that figure was well below the $62,000 for directors at midsize firms and the $83,000 at big outfits, it was "surprisingly high," says Robert Stobaugh, a Harvard Business School professor emeritus and a director of the association. Equity made up 59% of pay packages at the biggest firms, and 44% of pay at small outfits.

The study, conducted by Pearl Meyer & Partners, a New York compensation firm, and executive-search firm Heidrick & Struggles International Inc., surveyed 1999 proxies of 1,210 randomly picked companies with sales ranging from $200 million to $6.6 billion. They also studied proxies of 200 giant companies with sales ranging from $6.6 billion to $158 billion.

Pensions nearly vanish from packages due to criticism from investors who prefer directors to own equity stakes.