One of my girlfriends has been out of work for about 8 months and has been looking hard for work. In one week alone she sent off 20+ applications. A lot of the time she hasn't even managed to get an interview and she was understandably getting disheartened and disillusioned.
She did a couple of months contract work with me, but I had no more money to keep her on contract, even though she did a fantastic job and was a joy to have working with our team.
We had discussed the fact that there was a job out there somewhere, it would come and find her, she just had to be patient.
Well - it found her yesterday - she didn't apply, she didn't even know it was on offer. It found her anyway. So if you are out there looking for work, keep positive and believe. I know it is easy for me to say, I am not in your shoes. But keep your confidence and self belief as I am sure you can be just a lucky.