A grueling, long and expensive job search can be worth it if it ends well. Fortunately for Bill Houlin, a 20-month search did.

Mr. Houlin for two years had been managing director of Latin America for PRG-Schultz International Inc., an Atlanta-based accounts-payable auditing firm. In October 2003, Mr. Houlin says, his position was ended. Clint McKellar Jr., general counsel for the firm, declined to comment on his dismissal.

It was time to begin a job search in earnest. Mr. Houlin started networking and began talking with TMI Executive Resources, an outplacement firm based in Boston that helps unemployed executives seeking new positions. He paid $15,000 up front for its services, which were to include preparing a new resume and helping him to develop a network.

Ultimately, he came away from the experience frustrated. Though Mr. Houlin received several versions of his resume, he says a search firm told him that the resume wasn't strong enough. He felt the networking sessions were not useful, and the career counselors were not responsive to his calls and emails, he says.

It's not an entirely unusual reaction for career-service firm clients. Sometimes firms overpromise what they can deliver -- making aggressive pitches to people at a vulnerable time in their lives. And sometimes clients expect more than any firm can reasonably deliver.

Thomas P. McNeil, president of TMI, declined to comment about Mr. Houlin's specific complaints but said that due to Mr. Houlin's level of dissatisfaction, the company decided to suggest a settlement and refunded $7,500. Mr. Houlin says he was pleased with the outcome.

Mr. Houlin then sought help with his resume from a career-marketing firm he had used a few years back. He submitted his resume to Monster.com and 6FigureJobs.com, among other job boards.

He also joined Netshare.com, a fee-based networking group for senior executives based in Novato, Calif. (Netshare is a business partner of CareerJournal.com.) Members post their resumes on the site, have access to job postings supplied by employers and executive recruiters and participate in daily networking discussions with other executives at their level. Mr. Houlin subscribed for six months, which costs $210.

"I thought it might be different from the other job sites, because I had to pay for it," he says.

After posting his resume, Mr. Houlin was contacted by three companies about openings. One was SPANUSA, a search firm based in Larchmont, N.Y., which specializes in recruiting executives who are bilingual in Spanish and English. It had been asked to find candidates for the chief executive officer job at Briggs Plumbing Products Inc., a global plumbing-fixtures company in Charleston, S.C. Briggs is owned by CISA holding, a Chilean company, and has manufacturing facilities in South America.

Briggs wanted to hire a multicultural executive to cement relations with the Chilean parent and the South American operations, says Don Tracy, Briggs's chief financial officer. "It is better for us to be seen as an integrated part of a global company," he says.

Born in Argentina but now a U.S. citizen, Mr. Houlin is fluent in Spanish, Portuguese and English. Besides his bilingual abilities, Mr. Houlin had worked for Black & Decker, which competes with Briggs in some product areas. That was also a credential the Briggs executives liked, says Manuel Boado, SPANUSA's president and CEO.

Mr. Boado adds that Mr. Houlin's "very decisive and energetic personality" also was a plus. After interviewing with the recruiter, Mr. Houlin had six interviews with Briggs executives and psychological testing. The rigorous interview process raised his view of the company. "I was so impressed with how they conducted themselves," he says. He accepted the offer and started his new job in June at a salary he was happy with, along with full relocation benefits and a company car.

For Mr. Houlin, job hunting was a "humbling" experience. It bothered him that headhunters who once called him for assignments would not return his calls. "I spent hours calling people," he says. "It's like selling door-to-door. If you aren't insistent, you aren't going to get the job."

"Sooner or later, the job will come," says Mr. Houlin. "It's a matter of finding the right match."