"Bah, humbug."

That's what many candidates say about trying to job hunt during the holiday season. In their view, nobody's around in corporate offices between the Thanksgiving Day parade and the New Year's Eve ball-dropping on Times Square. Why keep searching?

In truth, the situation is just the opposite, say executive recruiters, particularly this year as the economy recovers its health. Many companies are busier filling positions during the festive season than at any period, says Jim Bethmann, vice chairman in Dallas for recruiter Highland Partners.

"Clients get very aggressive this time of year," Mr. Bethmann says. "They say, 'We have to have a particular candidate before the second quarter,' or 'We need this to happen.' It can get really busy."

Software executive Rod Keller says he discussed taking the job of vice president and general manager of Trilogy Software Inc. in Austin, Texas, with company officials through most of December 2003 before he accepted the role. He was previously executive vice president of Toshiba American Information Systems Inc., Toshiba's PC business, but left that job in September to relocate to Texas from California.

While in negotiations with Trilogy, Mr. Keller, 46, also was talking with four or five other employers interested in hiring him. "Even after I accepted this position, I got calls from employers all the way through the holidays," he says.

Now the shoe is on the other foot, and he's seeking candidates for business-development-director jobs as at Trilogy. "I'll be interviewing over the holidays," he says.

While the holiday season was once fairly relaxed, few companies can afford to be idle in today's fast-paced business environment. Those with fiscal years starting in January are finalizing new budgets and interviewing candidates for new openings funded for 2005.

"There are a lot of companies -- and we are one of them -- that get the budget approved and start with a clean slate on Jan.1," says Mark Dendinger, vice president of professional services for Venture SystemSource Inc., an IBM business partner in Ridgeland, Miss. "We're hiring people now so we can achieve our business plan beginning then."

The 70-person company is seeking candidates to fill engagement-manager posts in its professional-services division -- a consulting arm. It's also gearing up for one of its largest projects ever, so most staffers will be in the office through the holidays, adds Mr. Dendinger, who started his current job in October.

Since he's newly hired, he still receives job-opening announcements through his network. These have increased substantially in the past month "and there is optimism about the new year, so I think there will be a lot of hiring between now and then," he adds.

Mr. Bethmann advises candidates in talks with companies to be ready to interview.

Members of hiring committees continue to make decisions during the holidays and will expect you to be equally available, he says. "Clients work right through the holidays," he says. "I can call them any time, even at 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving when they are sitting down to dinner, and they will take the call."

Here are other suggestions from recruiters, employers and candidates on how you can advance your search during the holidays:

"This is an excellent time of year to broaden your network," says Trina Gordon, managing partner of Boyden, a Chicago-based search firm. Through talking with hiring managers, you can learn about potential needs that will create new positions, she says.

Stacey Davenport, San Diego-based managing director of recruiter Slayton International's the life-sciences practice, says her advice about job hunting during the holidays is the same as for any other time of the year: Target companies where you want to work, review the biographies of their management, and then call those executives. "Be somewhat aggressive," she says. "Say here's who I am, and I'm interested in working for your company."

Unemployed marketing executive Brian Caldwell is taking that advice. In September he was laid off in a reorganization from his position as director of strategic marketing for Agoura Hills, Calif.-based Digital Theater Systems Inc. During the holiday season, Mr. Caldwell's strategy is to network to learn what new programs companies are adding or expanding in their budgets and to put his name in the hat for jobs that will be created as a result.

"I'll be working my contact network and making sure everyone knows I'm available," says Mr. Caldwell, 43, who's seeking a vice president or director-level marketing slot. "If you aren't active now, they won't think about you in January."

Job hunters may think some companies aren't busy because they won't officially commit to filling these positions just yet, but that's far from the case, he says. In his last job and the one before that -- as director of marketing for DirecTV Inc. -- Mr. Caldwell says he spent most of his time between Thanksgiving and New Year's interviewing candidates for jobs that started in January.

"Behind the scenes, they are very busy," he says. "I'm focusing on what companies are going to be doing, and in some cases, I might even be able to propose a job for myself."

Keep up your subscriptions to executive-networking listserves, such as Netshare, where recruiters and employers posted descriptions for openings almost daily through the past month. Newspaper classifieds also might have openings. In early December 2003, Craig Paull noticed a newspaper ad placed for an information-technology (IT) director for Kent County, Mich. His Grand Rapids home is in Kent County, but Mr. Paull was working as an IT project manager for a professional-services firm 132 miles away in Detroit, which meant a weekly commute.

"Spending each week in Detroit was playing havoc with my home life, so I was looking for anything I could find," he says.

Mr. Paull, 52, responded to the ad and then began networking with friends and family for introductions to Kent County employees he could contact about the opening. "Instead of saying no one's serious about filling jobs now, I started networking immediately and nailed down five or six people at the county I could talk with over the holidays," he says.

The contacts explained the differences between working in government compared to the private sector and how to interview for the job. While Mr. Paull isn't sure if a particular contact's referral helped him land the position, he won the offer and became the county's new IT director two months later, a role he enjoys.

"You just have to keep working at your job search all the time," he says about holiday job hunting. "Leave no stone unturned."

Sending holiday greeting cards is one way to get your name in front of recruiters, hiring managers or networking contacts you've talked with during your search. "I always welcome them," Ms. Gordon says about greeting cards, even those sent by e-mail. "It's differentiating and a good reminder to a search-firm executive to keep you in mind for anything that's ongoing."

Be selective about sending cards to recruiters you don't know well, since some don't appreciate it. Brian Sullivan, chairman and CEO of Christian & Timbers, a search firm in Cleveland, is among them. "It's corny," he says. "Holiday greetings should be sincere and not about currying favor."

Mr. Sullivan is more receptive to being approached at holiday gatherings by candidates who inquire if they could call him to talk through their career options. "Absolutely, I would do that," he says.

Needless to say, friends and former business associates are often glad to rekindling old ties at this time of year. "People have time to get together for lunch and a phone conversation that may not exist at other times," says Joe Meadows, an unemployed marketing executive in Audubon, Pa.

Mr. Meadows was recruited to his most recent position as director of marketing for a specialty pharmaceutical company in Norristown, Pa., last December, but the arrival of a new president at the company last July has put him in the job market this holiday season for the first time in his career. His strategy is threefold: make recruiters he knows aware that he's available, post resumes online and reconnect with friends and former colleagues. In two weeks, a former boss from Merck is coming to dinner at his home.

"I have probably contacted more than 50 people from my past," says Mr. Meadows, 40, "and now I'm starting to get a lot of calls about opportunities."