Over recent years, increasing attention has been paid to factors which determine the job search behaviour of the unemployed in South Africa. We provide a framework for analysing the choice of search strategies utilised by unemployed job searchers. Using a simple search model, we show that individual as well as household characteristics either constrain or facilitate the use of particular search methods. Our findings therefore illustrate that the job-seeker's choice of a particular search method is a compromise between what the job-seeker considers to be the most effective way to find job and what is actually a feasible method. This highlights the need to carefully reconsider the way in which we define and statistically evaluate the labour force participation of the South African unemployed.