DEAR JOYCE: I've got two kids with allergies -- one has a skin rash. I've lost my health insurance along with my employment. They've gone to their doctor, but I've seen up close what the future holds if we don't get new health insurance. I'm motivated!

My vulnerable position means that failure is not an option. In my late 40s, with a college degree and good work experience, you'd think that I'd be able to find a job after 12 weeks of searching. Not! I have a question for you:

Among the buckets of advice I've read, some exert says that job seekers often discover that lining up interviews is easier during times when the economy goes splat. Why? Supposedly it's easier because so many jobless people are hiding out. Or waiting by their computer for e-mail interview invitations that never come. Could this easier-interview-timing statement be true?" -- R.S.L.

I've heard the same supposition, but I don't buy it. Quite the opposite. I suspect that interviews are even harder to obtain now than they were, say, two years ago. Published job openings immediately attract hundreds to thousands of applicants these days, even for exotic jobs. At a recent single-employer job fair in Providence, R.I., more than 200 people showed up at the Foxy Lady strip club to compete for 30 positions, from dancers and waitresses to disc jockeys and bartenders.

The take-away: Persevere by continuously interviewing and following up. Try not to be a pest, but call back leads as often as you can impart or receive new information, or massage old information.

Explaining why a strong follow-up campaign is essential, all-time-great career guru Marilyn Moats Kennedy (no relation) once told me: "Those who get hired are the ones who let everyone know that they won't leave until they are hired. They wear employers down. What employers should feel, gut level, is that you're absolutely committed to getting the job."

As for your health insurance, while a new freebie is no substitute for comprehensive coverage, Walgreens is offering free walk-in clinic visits -- typically the treatments cost $59 or more -- to the unemployed and uninsured for the rest of the year. The company, through its in-store Take Care Clinics, will provide tests and routine treatment for minor ailments. Get details from Walgreens. See more about health-care costs for the jobless in the next letter. Continued...