Okay - this is one of those goofy tax code provisions that sounds good on paper, but in reality few people qualify for it.

First - You must be able to itemize AND get over the 2% hurdle for unreimbursed employee expenses.

Second - Generally speaking, you only qualify for the deduction if you’re looking for a job in your current occupation.  If you were an executive for General Motors and have had enough of the car business and want to work for the state of California (okay so you’re a glutton for punishment), you could not deduct any of your job search expenses because they’re not in the same occupation.

If you decide you want to stay in the auto industry and have job search expenses such as hotels, mileage, etc - that’s deductible.  In addition, outplacement expenses such as resume creation, mailing are deductible.  The key is staying in the same occupation.

A couple of reminders - if you travel while looking for work, the focus of the trips needs to be job hunting, not laying on the beach.  If  there is a substantial amount of time between jobs, you may not be able to deduct expenses related to your job search.  Substantial is not defined, so develop your arguments in case your deductions are questioned.  And finally,  job search expenses when it’s your first job are not deductible.  I suspect Congress was thinking of new college grads hunting down jobs when that provision was added.