Working weekends on job search.

• Position: Your Life - Brief Article

Your winning job lead may come from a chance meeting at a party this weekend. Now that the taboo about discussing unemployment is gone, social contacts increasingly are the greatest source of leads, according to John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of the international outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., Chicago.

"That is why weekends have taken on a critical role in the search for employment. Those who suspend their search efforts on Friday nights, Saturday, and Sunday will likely miss out on opportunities and lengthen their joblessness by weeks or even months."

There are 8,800,000 people unemployed and actively seeking work. Another 4,900,000 stopped looking for jobs but still want to work, which means that at any moment they could reenter the fray. Making matters worse is the shrinking...