High-tech project manager Joshua Burgin didn't expect to have trouble finding a new job after he began looking seriously in the Seattle area in mid-2001. After all, he'd been quickly hired into his previous positions with a large Internet retailer and other companies.

But Mr. Burgin started job hunting just as the technology market was sliding into the doldrums. By winter, he realized his search was going nowhere.

"Unlike my previous searches, I wasn't getting responses to my resume submissions," he says. "Most of the people I knew were out of work or were with companies that couldn't hire any people, so I wasn't able to network."

Mr. Burgin says so many other high-tech professionals were seeking work that he didn't feel he stood out. Nor did he know how to find leads in a tough market. He had been working as a solo consultant during 2001 but his last project was winding down and he hadn't landed a single job interview. Searching for answers, he contacted a career counselor in December 2001.

"I needed help altering my approach and rewriting my resume and cover letter so they would be more in line with my goals," he says. "I also wanted to gain more perspective on the job market in general and find out if I needed extra training."

Janet Scarborough, a Seattle-area counselor with Bridgeway Career Development, helped him feel more hopeful and gave him the perspective he needed on the job-search process and the market. He learned that he needed to sell himself more to employers than in the past. "I needed to tell them I was an excellent candidate, unlike before, where I would only present my qualifications," he says.

With Ms. Scarborough's help, Mr. Burgin redid his resume so it focused on his accomplishments instead of his job responsibilities. His cover letter became more punchy and upbeat. Then, instead of mass-mailing resumes or responding to ads, he identified companies where he would enjoy working and wrote personal letters to hiring managers explaining why he would be a good fit. He then followed up his letters with phone calls.

Mr. Burgin's high-tech specialty is data warehousing and customer-relationship management. Although Ms. Scarborough didn't think he needed more training, he took a course in project management and, with his newfound confidence, asked the training organization if they needed help. He began assisting with its training while conducting his job search.

The new tactics won Mr. Burgin three interviews for promising jobs. By April 2002, he started a new position as lead program manager focusing on data warehousing, data mining, CRM and business-intelligence projects with a large Seattle-area technology company.