[mvkel]

Work on your network. Your _social_ network. Most companies hire based on the following priority:

1) Can we hire someone internally? 2) Can we hire someone we know via a connection? 3) Who has the best resume?

9 times out of 10, someone is found in the first two options. So, the first step should be getting on the radar of companies you'd like to work at, then let the resume be the ammo to help seal the deal.

[danilocampos]

I recognize that you're trying to be helpful, but "work on your network" is an over-used trope heard on the job-hunt. It's about as useful as telling a depressed person to "snap out of it."

Better advice would be given by a local in OP's job market. "Come to such and such event, which is every Thursday at X pub – many tech folks mingle there and it would be a good first step."

Absent such concrete guidance, "work on your network" is stating the obvious.

[thomaslangston]

I'd disagree. "Work on your social network" is not obvious to many people. I've mentored people who explicitly told me they did not think of it. Nor is specific information necessary. If you know what to search for, such meetups might be a web search away.

London Java User Group. http://www.meetup.com/Londonjavacommunity/

London Python User Group http://wiki.python.org/moin/LondonFinancialPythonUserGroup

[mvkel]

I agree, it's an over-used trope. Because it works. And I was implying exactly what you stated. Go to meet ups in the field of your choice, etc. The whole point of that is to expand one's social network.

It's second only to "update your resume!"

[mgkimsal]

Yes, work on the network. Inspired by a conference 'open session' on job hunting a few months back, I wrote a blog post explaining this with some more specifics which may be of help to the OP (or ideally anyone) at http://michaelkimsal.com/blog/working-your-network/

In a nutshell, spend time in small groups - explicit networking groups, or networks of friends/colleagues with similar but disparate interests. None of this will be 5 minute job, but the OP has already invested months cold-emailing for jobs and that hasn't worked. Spend time investing in keeping your own network connections going - meet up with people regularly, etc.

Perhaps more importantly - start your own group if you need to. People will end up finding you and reaching out to you with job offers because they want to access your network. You'll sometimes hear about gigs before they're available anywhere else (not often, but it happens).