I certainly agree with the idea of doing a side project. Mine wasn't a resume, but it was something I was trying to turn into a startup. That alone got me lot

I certainly agree with the idea of doing a side project. Mine wasn't a resume, but it was something I was trying to turn into a startup. That alone got me lots of interviews. I went through the "Who's Hiring" thread on HN for a couple of months and wrote custom emails to of companies at places I'd like to work and was willing to immediately relocate to. Mailing folks through the HN thread worked MUCH better than hitting the HR slush pile. The side project I developed served as a catalyst to get me into many interviews, even if it was just for a phone screen. Eventually I landed a great position at my current employer. In summary, develop something you can show people that's the direct result of your efforts. Be willing to show them source code. Also get right through to someone who can get things done. The Who's Hiring thread is a great way to do that and works much better than HR submissions. Another source (and the one that eventually worked for me) was programming conferences. I found my current position at PyCon.