As one who is currently knee-deep in job-hunting, I've been thinking today about how I got my previous jobs. Not one of them involved the traditional route of responding to an ad and competing at interview with a pool of other candidates.
Job 1 came via word of mouth. A friend was approached about it but had already accepted something else. She mentioned that she had a friend who might possibly be interested. That friend was me. :)
Job 2 was also via word of mouth, through a family contact. It was a great match for me and my time there was the happiest of my working life. The funny thing is that, if I had seen it advertised, I'm not sure I would even have applied!
Job 3 came as the result of a speculative application. I randomly rang them up one day, said I liked the sound of them, and asked if they were likely to be recruiting anytime soon. Just weeks later, I was working there.
Job 4 I did some temp work for an agency. My fifth assignment decided to take me on permanently.