If you think the world of job-hunting is a cold, cruel place, guess what? It’s getting a lot worse.

Online job boards were supposed to be the future of the hiring world. An employer would post a job ad, and qualified respondents would reply. Or, the company could sift through posted rsums using search tools, and focus on keywords related to the open position.

Now, it seems those actively seeking jobs aren’t quite as desirable as people who not only have a job already, but are happy where they are and aren’t looking for another. According to eWeek.com, sites like Jobster.com have begun more aggressively offering employers opportunities to find those passive candidates.

“Find and hire passive candidates,” Jobster posts on its web site, touting a service starting at $995 per month aimed at finding those much-desired people. Finding these candidates has been a function of recruiters for a long time, and the news frequently features high-profile movers like James McNerney, who went from 3M to Boeing recently.

Now, that practice seems to be seeping downward. Jobseekers who find their pitches to recruiters and employers routinely ignored may be encountering this type of obstacle today.

What is a jobseeker to do? Be persistent, update skills, consider new fieldsit’s a mantra that more often than not adds up to frustration and another day of unemployment. But with search trends reserved for top executives now being used much more widely, thanks to advances in technology, the only solution for many people may be to take a step back, honestly assess one’s true interests and talents (in that order), and find a way to reinvent oneself.

It can’t be any worse than arriving at yet another interview where the hiring manager starts the conversation with “I can’t believe I’ve got four dozen applicants for this position.”

David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.