I agree with some of what Funky suggested... I disagree with skipping agencies though... I've had good success with them. Their recruiters generally deal with the hiring/dept managers directly, not HR... but going through an agency/consulting/recruitment firms doesn't mean you can't also do the work yourself. First job I got after the Air Force was through a consulting/recruitment firm, the next one after that, I found on my own, even while working with a couple of recruiters at the same time, and my current one also came through a consulting firm. If you aren't afraid to move (which is what happened to me when I took this job) then firms with a national base are not a bad way to go. They can reach into places you normally wouldn't think to go. Not just in locale, but also industries.

I do take exception to Hack's loop though...there's usually a lot more Apply iterations prior to the Interview loop.... :P

-tg