Hi FireWired
I graduated in graphic design last summer and have been exactly where you are. Hopefully my experiences will help you!
Firstly, nobody wants to employ a graphic designer with no experience. You may have a first class degree but companies want someone whose 'oven ready' and don't want to pay wages out to teach someone how to do the job for a couple of months. When I graduated I found myself a company where I worked for no money whatsoever. I ended up working there for four months, an hour there and an hour back each day. But it was worth it. I learnt so much by just being in a working environment and learning how the two guys I worked with dealt with clients.
The way I got my placement was by finding out the addresses of every company in the area and sending out letters and CVs (resumes I think you call them in America) - but more importantly getting companies to look at my website. Here it is:
My Webpage
Back then it was much simpler with just my university portfolio on. It was all created with Frontpage Express and Photoshop. I'm no web designer but I know how to design graphics, so everythings just images within the tables you use in Frontpage. This site was made after I completed my placement back in December, the original was just basic black and white based on my old tutor's site:
Pete Thompson
My point is just get your portfolio online in whatever form and send out 100 or so flyers / CVs / letters, whatever, to get you a placement (or even better paid work!). Have a look at my CV on my website. There are a couple of tricks I was taught.
1.) Put an image of yourself in the top left. It's more difficult psychologically for an employer to ignore a CV when they can see the person. A page with just text has no association with a living person.
2.) Put a quote at the bottom in italics if you have no referee or reference
e.g. "Alexis is an enthusiastic, talented individual who would be a great asset to any team"
Who said this? You did, but someone looking at your CV won't know that.
Hope this is of some help. I finished my placement on 17th December and only just now are jobs starting to appear again. I've just sent out another 50 or so flyers to companies just to get them to look at my website and found 3 jobs I've applied for on Friday