> With networking you never really know who could help you and often (at least in my experience) a contact will be made through someone who's only a good acquaintance.

True, true. I got my last job through one our church's secretaries, whose brother worked there and mentioned that they were looking for designers. I got my current job through an even more complex network; I got an interview at one company where I knew someone who I'd worked with at my previous job, and although I didn't get that position, the woman who interviewed me was an acquaintance of the HR manager where I work now and sent her my resume.

Anyway, one of my friends at church is a designer and art director for a company up in Sidney, Ohio. Just last night he offered me the prospect of doing some freelance work for his company on weekends, which just might be a doorway to getting a permanent job there when they're actually hiring again.