How I did it: Put as simply as possible, I applied anywhere and everywhere that I was remotely interested in working at.  I put in a lot of leg work, going from store front to store front, and spent hours online filling out applications, utilizing social media to make connections, and searching for some form of employment.

Lessons & tips:

• Keep your head up.  Being unemployed is hard enough, and turning in applications and phoning business back only to be told no takes a very real toll on your self-esteem.  Remind yourself that you are worthwhile, important, and can do a good job.
• Be aware of personal branding.  Remember that your online presence is just as important as your "real-life" counterpart.  Those embarrassing drunken party pictures on Facebook?  Make sure they are hidden from view of your potential employers (or better yet, taken down altogether).  There are multiple websites that allow you to keep resumes, build profiles, and search for opportunities, but remember that the other sites you use, such as Facebook and MySpace, are often searchable, and employers do take these things into consideration. 
• Phone Back!  Phoning people back, just to "check up on the status of [your] application" is incredibly essential to landing a job.  As a hiring manager, I only hired those who called me back.  You can come in and blow me away in your interview, but if you don't call me back, I may not realize how interested you really are in a prospect.  Managers get busy - running a store or operation is labor intensive - if you don't have the drive or initiative to remind them that you are the best candidate for a position, there is no reason they should hire you.
• Smile.  Firm handshake.  Exert confidence.  Even for the positions perceived as "the lowest".   Income is income, and having a job is leaps and bounds ahead of not having one.  There is never reason not to care about presenting yourself as the best of the best.

Resources: There are a variety of resources available online in your quest for employment, be it just a summer job or a full-time occupation.  I found these warranted my time and energy:

Jan 10, 2010, 11:19PM PST | 0 comments | 1 cheer