Send resume to HR depts, they will keep for 6mths up to god knows when. The trade off is this.... The bigger the company, the faster they trash your resume.
As for connections, it's a pretty "forever" thing, well at the very least, as long as your connections remembers you.
So, get out there and network abit more, it will do you good. You never know who u r gonna meet in these ever so boring networking sessions....
BTW, as for the degree thingy, I dun quite agree. I know of a former chief photographer from one of the local english newspaper.... As far as i know, he doesn't have a degree.... He's now very much into doing free lance work and have several major accounts under him....
And, yes, he's enjoying his job much more than before.... So, think about it, it may appear glamourous or even prestigeous(within the photography circle) to be known as a press photographer, but at the end of the day are u aware of the "sai kang" behind these jobs? More than often due to confidentiality agreements which companies make employees abide by, no one out there dares to talk about the ugly side of their job....
Another factor is one's ego.... There are always ppl out there who are very face-concious(face it, u r in lion city). They want nothing but to see their friends being green with envy about their careers....
U may argue that, hey no thats not true, I always complain to my friends abt my job. But hey deep down inside, dun u always want your friends, when talking abt you say something like this: Oh that XXX, I heard that he's doing great as a press photographer, earning XXX each mth, oh how i envy him.....
Or, do u prefer hearing this: Oh that XXX, I heard that he's some small fry photographer at the press drawing a miserable salary each month. Now that advertising revenues are falling steadily, i bet he's gonna lose his job in no time....