What to do now?

Hope’s up, hope’s down, longing, not longing, give up, not given up- These words sum up my year of job hunting and networking. One of the most important lessons I learned at an early age from observing people is to take words with a grain of salt and that action does trump words. I am grateful for that life lesson as it was keeping me from living in the pit of depression and forgoing my career and life plans. Recently I have been wondering if networking actually works, especially for those just starting out and for the other unemployed. Last week I overheard someone saying that they have been an active member of a professional organization for two years, they volunteer at the organization’s events and they haven't gotten any job leads. Most books and seminars on networking give the same advice- go out, mingle, send emails and make calls, but none tells you, how to get the person on the receiving end to respond,as this is a world where reciprocity is the law of the land, no one tells you what to do when you have nothing to offer. I have been somewhat lucky, though none of the leads I’ve received panned out, some of the people who had allowed me to send them my resume did take a look at it and send it out as promised. Wait and see, is not working for me as I have bills and student loans to pay. – so now what? I don't even have lemons for lemonade.