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I have the job I have BECAUSE I took a job to tide me over. The job I had led to the job I have--I did such great work at my old position (graveyard at a women's treatment facility) that my bosses took notice, and when they needed someone to fill a spot in the office, they called me. While it's still not the greatest of jobs (the pay is peanuts, no benefits) it's good compared to what is out there in my job market, and it is steady employment and income.
It's a lot easier to find a job in your field when you have something else to fall back on, no matter what that something is. Here are some tips for you:
1) Find out what public assistance is available to you. Food stamps are a horribly underused resource, especially by people in their 20s. If you're really that close to hunger, use that resource. That's what it's there for.
2) Find out what public programs there are that can help you find work. In the town where I live, we have two public resources: the state employment department (which matches you up with work according to your skill set) and a local consortium that works on job skills and networking employees to possible employers.
3) Take a job to tide you over. The best job you can probably take for yourself right now, so you can focus on finding BETTER work, is something where you would work 32 hours or less.
4) Send out resumes to EVERYONE. And make sure your resume is ship-shape. I cringe (visibly cringe) when I see bad resumes turned in to my box. An applicant can make or break my impression of them with their resume--I want to see care has been put into it, and no matter what your level of education is, the thing should be perfect and free of errors.
5) Use sites like Monster.com. Believe it or not, I had MORE luck getting calls from places off of Monster than just sending in/handing in resumes.
You should be sending out at least a resume a day. AT LEAST. Throw yourself at employers! Call to follow up and make sure they got your resume. A job isn't just going to land in your lap, and after so many months of unemployment, you can't afford to be picky. Realize that in some smaller organizations, some people wear a lot of hats. For instance, I'm an administrative assistant, but I'm also the go-to person for IT/network issues. Future employers are going to want to know about your gap in employment history, and "I was picky" isn't usually a good answer. There are lots of places that can use your skills, so look outside your field. And trust me--getting a job is a bit like getting a date--employers can smell the desperation. So take some of the stench off and do take a job to get by.
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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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