The best thing you can do is to try to find out a bit about companies you are interested in working for. each time i look for a new position, this is my first step---find out who is in HR, who their boss is, etc and email/call them to gauge their interest. you're basically doing some social engineering here---your goal is to get names and phone numbers of the people who would be interviewing you and/or hiring you. call/email them and politely state what you're looking for and feel them to see if they're interested...don't be pushy whatsoever, or claim that you know more than other people in the field. no one wants to work with a jerk. that linked in site is really good for things like this too---you can find out who works for what company, and see if you can get any sort of info from them about the hierarchy. and i'm sure it's been said previously, but you should definitely look outside your area for work---bigger cities always have openings, and they also have a lot more for temp agencies. my current gig, i actually didn't like my prospects where i was and ended up working through a temp agency in a major city before i was brought on full-time. above all, be patient and don't just blast out template letters with garbage that doesn't relate to the company you want to work for. it always works better when you target a specific company, and try to show them how you can help their business. and definitely be prepared for some "different" interview questions---like my favorite one "logically, how would you program a 50 floor elevator". good luck! it's not the best market out there right now---but as long as you keep looking you'll find something. and you could always hire a headhunter....