Some job search yields instant result while some could drag on for months without success. A 2009 article by Bottom Line Secrets listed ways of finding a job and the odds of getting one adapted from Richard Nelson Bolles, author of What Color Is Your Parachute.

Here is a list of the worst ways to get a job:

1. Randomly mail out resumes to employers. That method has a 7% success rate. (One study revealed that there is one job offer for every 1,470 resumes floating around out there. Another study puts the figure even higher -- one job offer for every 1,700 resumes.)

2. Answer ads in professional or trade journals appropriate to your field. That method also has only a 7% success rate.

3. Answer ads in newspapers in other parts of the state or country. That method has a 10% success rate.

4. Answer ads in local newspapers. That method has a 5% to 24% success rate. The higher the salary, the smaller the chance of finding a job using that method.

5. Go to private employment agencies for help. This method also has a 5% to 24% success rate; again, depending on the salary you want. In a recent study, 27.8% of female job hunters found jobs within two months by going to private employment agencies.

"Other tough ways to look for jobs are job fairs, recruiters, resume banks, newspaper and magazine ads because less than 20% of job openings in a year are ever even published.  There is a hidden, unpublished job market and you need to learn how to get into it! " says Anna Runyan, founder and CEO of Classy Career Girl." So don't waste your time looking through Internet postings.   Instead, sign up for emails with the keywords of jobs you are searching for and have them delivered to you"