DEAR JOYCE: Although I'm not yet severed after 19 years at the same desk, I feel a goodbye coming on. You briefly mentioned job clubs. Can you provide more details? -- W.B.

Although a personal career coach could work wonders to boost your search readiness, the cost of hiring one is unrealistic for many people struggling to pay mortgages and to send kids to college. That's why free or low-cost job clubs (aka job-search support groups) seem to be picking up steam across America.

Solid numbers are hard to come by because job clubs come and go with the vibrancy or inertia of job markets. But Bill Broderick, a man with a good handle on the job-club scene, thinks such groups have grown by one-third since 2005.

Broderick is president of the Work Ministry (workministry.com), a private firm that maintains a national directory of faith- and community-based job clubs. He estimates that more than 2,000 job clubs operate today in U.S. churches, temples and community institutions. These groups may involve as many as a half-million job hunters and job-club alumni.

HOW JOB CLUBS FUNCTION. Focusing on search savvy and mutual support, job clubs are collaborative efforts of small groups -- perhaps two to 30 people, sometimes more -- who meet regularly to facilitate job searching and career management goals. A club may be led by a professional facilitator, such as a career coach, career counselor or recruiter, or it may be directed by a volunteer using a guidebook.

Clubs can be created to appeal to any group, from displaced plant workers to older professional workers whose lives are being upended by layoffs.

WHAT CLUBS OFFER. Many clubs are limited in the scope of help they provide, while others offer a wide range of services. Here are examples of the rewards you may find:

-- Assistance in strategizing a job search. Instruction in using Internet search tools. Writing and review of resumes, applications and job letters. Feedback on mock interviews, self-branding statements and 30-second personal pitches. Research data on potential employers, including the use of online social networking services. Dealing with staffing companies, employment services and recruiters.

-- Job leads. Networking opportunities. Contacts with people in the working world.

-- Accountability monitoring (members who check to see if you completed your self-assigned tasks). Continued...