DEAR JOYCE: I've been waiting for nearly three months for one of two good job offers to materialize. Both potential employers have indicated strong interest. A friend at one of the companies keeps saying that the time isn't right yet, and at the other, the hiring manager says something about a fiscal year budget change. It's upsetting. I know times are bad, but why do people hold out the possibility of an offer if they don't mean to follow through? -- B.T.W.

They hate to say no, especially after virtually saying yes. Or the companies' financials are far more critical than they've let on to you. In either case, you're upsetting yourself without gain. Stop giving yourself heartburn over what you cannot control.

Instead, focus on what you can control, and that's to continue an all-out job hunt until the day you report to work. Even after a verbal offer, the situation can fall apart, leaving you with a loss of momentum as well as a loss of job.

Today's hiring traffic is skirting gridlock at the big companies as they keep shedding employees or institute hiring freezes. That's why it's particularly important to recognize a stall when you hear one:

"We need to see a few more people before the deal can be done, but personally I'm pulling for you."

"The HR manager has been blocking your hire, but there's going to be a chance there soon -- hang on."

"The hiring freeze should be over when business picks up; we're expecting a great quarter."

Some string-alongs actually may be true. But who cares? The end result for you is the same: zero. The only intelligent thing to do is to redouble your efforts to get an offer good enough to accept, or to use it to leverage the offer you really want.

One indication that the string-along has some veracity is when your references have been contacted. Another sign of truthfulness is when the stall contains a time element: "If you don't get a call from HR this week, call me."

But in today's super-cautious environment, even with these good signs, the hiring process could still be derailed before it reaches a speedy conclusion in your favor. Continued...