I haven't even been fired- I'm six months out from (finally) graduating, and the only offer I've gotten I couldn't afford to take. I'm losing my mind.
One major trick to applying is to not preclude yourself from jobs, but let HR do that. Apply to anything that interests you, even if you don't exactly meet the criteria.
EDIT: I was a bit casual, but it's bothering me, so I'll be serious. I guarantee your resume is hurting you, and I'm willing to help.
EDIT: I wasn't entirely certain if you meant your HN username or your full name... either way someone got an e-mail not meant for them.
I was in a very similar situation - unable to find work after college. It took me three years from graduation before I landed a job that was even tangentially related to what I wanted to do. In the interrim I did a bit of everything from bagging groceries to furniture delivery to repo work. The hardest part about it all was trying to find an explanation for my family as to why I'd spent those years in college. Or to explain why I couldn't find work. "Can't you try this? Can't you try that?" (Well, mom, that's what I was trying _last_ year and it didn't exactly work then.)
There isn't always a reason. Sometimes it's just bad timing. I stuck with my search, slowly (too slowly) expanded the list of places I'd be willing to live or the list of jobs I'd be willing to take. A decade later and I'm doing what I had set out to do in the first place.
At least once a day!
Thanks for taking the time to write.
After about 6 months unemployed I was asked to attend a govt sponsored course once a week. I was skeptical thinking it would be a waste of time and that I knew how to write a CV and type a letter dammit. BUT! the guy who was my contact was solid, gave me good advice too but the two most important things he did: 1. He had contacts because he was essentially a recruiter but working through the govt. (that got me a trial period leading to a full time job) 2. He got me up and across town every Wednesday for 9am and told me a thousand times how smart I was gave me the confidence boost I needed to see through the jungle of BS that is jobhunting.
My point being: don't negate any opportunities because they look bad at first glance. Comb your hair and go, do your best. We've all been to interviews where the job looked great, but then you arrive and it's clear you maybe don't want this job or like these people, but the opposite also happens. My current job was as a COBOL programmer - it never happened from day one, they were looking for a webdev really but the job description was written by a cobol dev who was overworked. What he actually needed was a working framework so he could use his time on backend programming. it may sound trite, but every opportunity is to be attempted.