Contributed by Silvana Carpanelli Hayes from www.ivyexec.com

Q: Sometimes I feel I’m stalking recruiters. When is enough really enough?

Calls go unreturned, emails are unanswered, and soon you realize that the sweet smell of after-school brownies in the air is, in reality, the sweet smell of desperation. I have one thing to say: It is not always you. Sometimes, it is them.

1. The hardest thing to say is NO. In some instances, hiring managers and recruiters have a hard time letting a candidate know that the company or client has decided to go a different way. This is right around the time when most professionals feel they are failing to follow up.

Solution: Give your recruiter a chance to email you with feedback. Any experienced recruiter will tell you that when he or she has dropped the ball, they appreciate the opportunity to do the right thing. After emailing your recruiter, you know you have done everything in your power to pursue the opportunity in question. You have succeeded in keeping the relationship between you and the recruiter intact and keeping the door open for the future.

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Contributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart

It seems that everyone has caught on to networking. I can almost feel people cringe when I ask them if they know someone who can help me find a job. With so many people on the market and everyone networking, how can you still network without annoying your contacts?

Don’t ask for a job or imply anything close when you network. It puts the person on the defensive. But absolutely keep networking. Networking is critical to the jobseeker. Most jobs are filled via referrals, not ads. Getting inside is especially important in this slow economy, when companies are cutting recruiting costs. However, networking the wrong way can be annoying. Here are some tips to avoid the annoying trap:

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Contributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart

Given the bad market, I feel like I should be taking shorter lunches and less personal time. Do employers even notice that type of sacrifice?

If employers notice, are these the ones you want?

Seriously though, I once made a lunch date with a colleague who like myself is a busy working mom. About five minutes before our appointed meeting time, she was hovering outside my office trying to get my attention. Extreme punctuality? Actually, she was canceling at the last-minute. She had an all-morning meeting and came back to a stack of emails, so surely she couldn’t lunch.

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Contributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart

With the tight market every interview seems to have higher stakes. I practice and then I invariably forget one of my key points during the interview. Or I get a question and can’t think of what I had prepared. How do I relax in these interviews?

Several years ago, I auditioned for a commercial. (For an actor, the audition is the job interview.) Although I’d never used the product, I needed to convey that the product was great. How did I do it? Whenever I needed to say the product name, I substituted my baby’s name in my mind, so I cracked a smile, my body relaxed, and I got a twinkle in my eye at just the right moment. Behold the power of substitution.

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Contributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart

What can I do to better my chances while the employer is thinking it over?

In a job search, there are many gaps: from when you submit your resume to when you interview; from the first interview to subsequent interviews; from offer to close. Don’t drop the ball, and let your target employer forget about you. Use proper follow up to ensure that these gaps don’t interfere with your hiring chances.

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