Looking for work. Not sure if it's the all the right places or the wrong ones

Looking for work is kind of like looking for a needle in a haystack. Kind of hard. With everybody looking at the same jobs, it's like do employers throw all the resumes in the air and the one on the top is the one that gets the job. Does that person have to pick up all the resumes? 

I'd pick them up for free and then network with them to see if thy wanted to sell candles or look at monkeys chasing elephants.