Many career advisers warn that in today's oversaturated job market, filling out an online application and waiting with fingers crossed to hear back is tantamount to hurling your resume into a black hole.

"Our organization recommends a phone call to the hiring manager before you send in you resume," says Jay Hofmeister, co-founder of The Resume Bay and the Columbus, Ohio-based recruiting firm JEM Consulting Services.

Don't count on your resume to speak for itself. Follow-up is essential if you want to make an impression.

Is it possible that a forceful job-search strategy makes the candidate appear pushy, overeager or off-putting? Taken the extreme, yes. Even in a fiercely competitive job market, it is possible to come on too strong.

"The advice I always give my clients is to be persistent, but don't be a pest," says haverford, Pa.-based career coach Ford R. Myers, author of "Get the Job You ante Even When No One's Hiring" (John Wiley & Sons, 2009). "Employers can lost interest in an applicant for many reasons. One of those reasons is that the candidate cam across as too aggressive."

Typically, job seekers don't make enough noise, says career coach Marky Charleen Stein, president, Women's Career Solutions, Los Gatos, CA and author of "Fearless Resumes," (McGraw-Hill, 2009).

"Most job seekers feat that following up more than once is coming on too strong. They're wrong," she says. "The only way that job seekers, in my opinion, are crossing the line is when the employer, hiring manager or administrative assistant specifically asks them not to call again."

Don't call or e-mail more than three times a week. "With each follow-up call, ask when you can call back or propose a time to call back," she says.