How does one go about finding employers for sending a resume? Sites like coroflot are nice but there are only 7 jobs listed in Ohio, none in my field or skill level. General sites like monster have not returned anything relevant so far. I’ve just about exhausted all of the local design firms that I knew of through classmates, IDSA meetings, etc. But there must be other companies with in house designers, or smaller firms out there that aren’t well known.
Honestly, it sounds like you’ve gone through every correct venue, there just aren’t a lot of jobs out there right now, especially outside of the major metro areas.
Shy of considering moving to other areas or starting your own firm I’m not sure if theres any real good advice. Kind of just the crappy state of the economy.
Go to your local unemployment office (here in Illinois it is called the Illinois Department of Employment Security - IDES). There, they will have books filled with every employer in the state broken down by location, industry and size. I actually got a couple of freelance gigs cold-calling from those listings a few years back. None turned out to be long-term clients, but work is work.
Have you tried P&G?? Also there is yehideology.com. They are much like RitaSue but much more geared towards entry level and mid level designers. I agree with Taylor though. You have to be willing to move to succeed as a designer