Is getting out a phone directory (business directory) and calling companies and asking for work a good idea?   I always found this useless in the past because no one wants to talk to me or give their name.  They might just say to send a letter to HR.

People are telling me about some "hidden job market" and I am supposed to "network".  I find that talking to people just makes them not like me.   What am I supposed to say?

I like the idea.  It shows initiative.  Your timing could be right..it could be serendipitous! Also, no fear involved, as you have nothing to lose.

Even if it doesn't work immediately, it doesn't do any harm. Where I work, I get similar phonecalls once in a while - we don't have open spots, but how it the applicant to know? It certainly shows more interest than sending an e-mail.

Errr, I don't think so. Contact employment/temp agencies and find out who the contacts are, names, develop a relationship with them first over the phone. You're likely to offend.

I agree with Shrek.  Don't call a company, they already get calls and don't want them.

Call recruiting agencies that advertise jobs that suit you and ones that advertise similar jobs.

Your profile doesn't say where you are, the strategies vary between regions.  In Australia you will ALWAYS have a meeting with a recruiting agent before having your CV sent to the client.  So your aim when dealing with an agency has to be to get a meeting with them.  A strategy I've used in the past is to phone them from near their office while holding a print-out of my CV.  If they express any interest in my CV I say "I'm near your office right now and I'll deliver it to you".  Once I'm in their office holding my CV they can hardly refuse to interview me, and once I've got the "interviewed candidate" check-box in their database I can get my CV sent immediately for any position.

In the UK and the Netherlands the recruiting agents are lazy (or were last time I checked which was admittedly a few years ago).  They just wanted a CV sent by email so they could add it to their database.  They were particularly keen on keyword searches so stuffing a CV with the names of every skill that you had was the thing to do.

You should listen to et. I hear he has a lot of experience using phones.

It cannot hurt to try it. Calling small business and independent store owners , the smaller the company the better. You know a place that most likely would not even need an HR department. Those kind of places just may tell you to come on down and they might have something.  Good luck.

early bird gets the worm-- I was thinking of very small mom and pop type businesses-- occasionally they need some help - if the owner is in the business - they will answer the phone...

If you are going to make an unsolicited approach to a small store then visit in person.  You can browse the merchandise until the store has a quiet time and then talk to the owner.  If you phone a small store there is a reasonable chance that they will be busy at the time and unwilling give much attention to someone who wants a job.  Unsolicited phone calls will probably work best with a store that is large enough to have dedicated managers who don't do regular work.  If the manager works the cash register then don't phone them.

It is more advisable that you submit yourself in a job interview. Taking calls, you just waste your time its better that you submit your resume with application letter. It would be more possible.