The worse the economy, the harder it becomes to find a job, even for people who are highly qualified.
When there doesn't seem to be a job to be had in the local area and you have put in applications at so many places that you can't even keep track of them any longer, it might be time to turn to the professionals.
It might be time to consider going to the job search agencies so that you can actually have a shot of being hired.
While there is no guarantee that even job search agencies will be helpful, it might be a step that you have to take, regardless.
There are two basic types of job search agencies- the free service and those that you must pay a fee for.
The advantage of the latter is that there is often a guarantee of sorts- if they don't think that they can find you a job, they won't take your money or they may tell you if you aren't given at least one legitimate job offer during a certain time period, you may be entitled to a partial if not total refund of the fee.
On the other hand, if you have gotten to the point where you are needing to pay someone to help you search for a job, you may consider other services that can be helpful as well: resume or skill building being top on that list.
For most, you only need to bring in your resume and employment history and fill out a few forms.
If you are applying for any type of secretarial jobs, they may have you take a typing test and may also give you other evaluations if they think it is helpful.
One of the forms that you will fill out will be your preference for the hours that you would like to work, the location that you would like to work in and where you absolutely will not travel to.
These are only your preferences and you still may be given jobs that are outside your stated parameters.
Look to the job search agencies as something akin to the online dating sites- sometimes you are going to be given a "match" that is nothing like what you asked for but sometimes, you will find something that is absolutely perfect.