his toughest sales pitch

Tom Bednar wakes up each day to the job of trying to find a job. The 59-year-old, who has been out of work since Jan. 1, 2008, structures his day by setting aside time to talk with business contacts on the phone, to search the Web for job leads and to follow up on job interview opportunities.

"I talk to more than one person a day every day, and I e-mail people every day, seven days a week," he said Wednesday. "I still talk to guys I used to work with, people in the industry, people who worked for me -- I talk to them all the time."

Bednar, of Woodridge, used to be president of a suburban company that makes and sells traffic-safety equipment such as road warning cones and …