Getting your job search unstuck

Does your job search fill stuck? Are you applying to every job that you see and not getting any response? 
As a recruiter quite a few of my contacts reach out to me to see if I can help them get a job. The truth is, a specific recruiter typically works on a very narrow segment of skill sets and geography. 
Here are some resources and actions that can get your job search unstuck. 

One of the best books that I have seen on taking a new approach to looking for a job is Skip Freeman's  "Headhunter" Hiring Secrets: The Rules of the Hiring Game Have Changed . . . Forever!

Make sure your resume is database friendly. Do not put your contact information in the header or footer of your resume. Fancy formatting can lead to a garbled mess when it is parsed into a database. Check out this blog post about the Robots that read your resume. 

Most cover e-mails are overly vague and not terribly useful. Customizing the cover e-mail to clearly map your experience to the requirements using the T Letter format is a great way to stand out. Check out this blog post with examples of T Letter format e-mails. 

Far and away the best way to find a job is networking. Focused efforts on increasing your network in your targeted field is a great way of improving the odds that you will make the connection that leads to a job. Join organizations, attend events and volunteer. 

Here are a couple of examples. If you are a recently graduated Chemical Engineer and are getting frustrated being told "this position requires at least three years of experience" every time you apply check out events being put on by AIChe. 
If you are a new developer looking for a break check out Meetup.com as they have a large number of events. Here are just a few events for Java developers on meetup in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

Looking for a job is a frustrating endeavor but it is one where you only have to succeed once to be amazingly successful.