Jockspice;
You have done all the right things, just your timing is bad. Most companies at the moment are using free-lancers, we certainly are. However the team we use are the ones we have always used, the amount of work we have to spread around has gone down and we would rather look after those who have looked after us in the past than take on anyone new. Also you have to look at the budgets of the companies concerned, can they afford LPC/OPC/Line training for a new guy at the moment? Certainly our training budget is the area we look at closest as it is one of the few areas where, with some juggling we can make some savings. While we can keep everyone going we will, but we won't be taking on anyone new for the foreseeable future. To get a new guy up to speed will cost a minimum two hours for LPC/OPC and then can we get him on enough two crew jobs to line train him?
Keep plugging away and feel free to PM me if you have any questions. A couple of freelancers I know (they don't do any here) have decided to take this year off and do other things with more regular income, a very brave move and not one I would really advocate, but they have famillies to feed and aviation has not been bringing in enough cash.
Good Luck!