Steven Brown, the chief operating officer of Lyris Technologies Inc., a Berkeley, Calif., software company, expected a flurry of responses when he placed an ad for a director-of-marketing position on several online community boards last month. What he didn't expect was to receive several biting e-mails from those who saw the ad.

But that is just what he got. "After reading your ad, I don't know why anyone would want to apply," one cranky response read. "Your company, culture and this position sound like a trip to hell!" Another snarled, "I have looked at your Web site, and my overall reaction is that it is not terribly customer-focused."

Mr. Brown, who had simply asked applicants to visit the company's Web site and tailor a cover letter, says he was shocked not only by the content of such responses, but also by the writers' willingness to divulge their names and e-mail addresses. "I think applicants are just frustrated after sending out tons of resumes and not getting answers back," Mr. Brown says. "They see a posting like ours and feel as though they're being made to jump through hoops."

Despite signs of an economic recovery and hints of a pickup in hiring, job seekers still face challenging circumstances, and likely will for some time. Hiring managers remain inundated with applications for every open job, giving them the chance to cherry-pick from the best. For job seekers, the frustrating waits and intense competitions go on.

Some of their frustration appears to be boiling over, say hiring managers who have seen a notable increase in angry responses from unsuccessful job seekers. These take the form of letters and phone calls, and a lot of e-mails, a technology not widely used during the last downturn, but one that allows applicants to impulsively dash off comments more easily. Many of the angriest applicants have been out of jobs for nearly two years and have long ago lost patience with their job search.

Many applicants are bristling at the extended length of the process and the many demands that can come with job interviews. Dan Wickersham, a 57-year-old electrical engineer from Brasstown, N.C., applied for a $100,000 sales job this year at a New Haven, Conn., software company. After several telephone interviews, he was told to put together a presentation outlining how he would sell the company's billing software. (He declined to name the company.)

Because Mr. Wickersham had to research the company as well as the product, he says he spent about 60 hours preparing for the presentation. But he had to wait several weeks to make the presentation because the company canceled their meeting three times. When it finally happened, the hiring manager stopped Mr. Wickersham five minutes into the presentation with a curt, "I don't think you're qualified for this job."

Irate, Mr. Wickersham called the next day and let the hiring manager have it. "I told them how unprofessionally I was treated after spending so much time on that presentation," he says. "I also asked them if they were fulfilling some sort of government obligation to interview people over 55."

Mr. Wickersham says the company was indifferent to his gripes. "I knew I had no recourse, but at least I felt better about it," he says.

Some hiring managers profess sympathy. "Unfortunately, in some companies, hiring managers are operating with an arrogance of supply," says Rusty Rueff, executive vice president of human resources at Electronic Arts Inc., a Redwood City, Calif., game developer.

Mr. Rueff says Electronic Arts plans to hire more than 2,000 workers during the next four years. More than 200,000 people have expressed interest in working for the company, he says, but promising candidates will have to go through a "gauntlet of interviews" -- from eight to 10. But Mr. Rueff says he takes extra steps to be honest about the process, partly to head off disappointment later.