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The beard had to go.

Since the late 1970s, John Wold had worn a beard. As a young executive calling on clients for TransUnion LLC, a Chicago-based credit bureau, Mr. Wold thought it made him look more mature. But by the time he embarked on a job hunt in late 2002, he was concerned that his beard, now bushy and white, might make him seem older than his 57 years. "I thought, 'Maybe I don't look distinguished; maybe I look extinguished,' " he says.

Mr. Wold doesn't know whether his clean-shaven look helped his search, but he has found a position he loves. His 18-month job hunt ended in November 2004 when he became chief operating officer of RelyData LLC, a Chicago start-up that helps victims of identify theft resolve credit problems.

His biggest surprise about job hunting was finding out through the networking groups he joined just how many other senior executives were also on the market. "There were many times when I thought, 'There are way too many people out here,' " he says.

Mr. Wold had never been unemployed before and having to create a daily schedule was another unique experience. "I had to get up, get with it and beat the bushes," he says.

Mr. Wold had built a career in the credit and data-reporting industries, starting with TransUnion. A consulting job in California was winding down when a former boss at TransUnion called in 1998 and asked him to move to Chicago and become group vice president for "vertical" markets, a unit that sold credit data for insurance underwriting and direct marketing. He built revenues in his area to $80 million annually when TransUnion eliminated the business. Mr. Wold was laid off in late 2002 with a year's severance and a noncompete agreement that kept him from working for three large competitors for a year.

His first thought was to do some consulting, but most of his contacts were in California or retiring, and competition for consulting jobs from other out-of-work executives was stiff. As he pursued consulting, he began hunting for a new senior-executive role. He responded to leads he received through the networking groups, print ads and online job postings and contacted executive recruiters. He constantly revised his resume, tailoring it to every opening he sought.

But his mainstay was networking. The groups Mr. Wold joined stressed the importance of helping others when networking. He usually attended about five events for job hunters in Chicago each week, some in the morning, some at night and smaller get-togethers for coffee in between. He and other unemployed executives began calling Starbucks "the Transitional Cafe."

"I became a networking fool," he says. "There wasn't anybody I didn't want to meet. I made it my business to find out if there was anything I could do for others and others could do for me -- but it was mostly the former."

From networking and other leads, he estimates he pursued about 100 full-time opportunities during the 18 months. In all, he had 40 to 50 phone interviews and eight to 10 in-person interviews for jobs with Midwest companies. These included openings for a director of business development at a midsize database-marketing company; vice president or chief operating officer (COO) of a collection agency that sought debts owed to government agencies; and an executive role with a credit-industry software provider. No offers resulted.

He says he believes his age and experience may have been among the reasons behind his lack of offers. It was never overt, he says. He just had the sense that employers thought he was too experienced or wouldn't be happy unless he held a high-level position. "Many times, there would be great interest in me, then they would get my resume, see that I had all this experience, and things would just die," he says.

Mr. Wold says that besides shaving his beard, he lost a few pounds in an effort to appear more fit. He tried to address the age issue directly, by making it clear he wasn't interested in being chief executive officer and that he wanted to use his experience to make a contribution, "but maybe it didn't go over too well," he says.

In 2004, his personal networking paid off. Mr. Wold had acquired some consulting clients in the data-reporting industry and also was helping his son build a company that provides software to help creditors access credit-reporting data. Impressed by Mr. Wold's expertise, a lawyer for his son's business referred him to the founders of RelyData, who were attempting to get their idea off the ground. He began working for the company as a consultant in June 2004.

RelyData couldn't afford Mr. Wold's services full time, but he was attracted to its mission and wanted to devote more time and energy to the start-up. He and the founders negotiated an agreement in which he received equity instead of a full fee in exchange for more of his time. In November, he signed on as its new COO and now is seeking more seed money from investors. RelyData's president Garnet Steen confirms this account. Although his new salary is well below his former annual pay, which ranged from $240,000 to $300,000, Mr. Wold is willing to accept the pay cut because he finds the work exciting and sees a larger payoff down the road.

Mr. Wold says the support and encouragement he received from his wife, Marilyn, was key to his eventual success. But he says she worried about the couple's economic future.

He believes that talking openly and often with her about his progress was key to helping her understand that the process takes time. "She could see that I was doing everything I could," Mr. Wold says. "We talked often, and her support was wonderful."

His advice to other out-of-work executives? "Don't ever stop networking. Don't pass up opportunities to stay in touch with someone, because it will come back to you," he says.