Would second this. I'm from Scotland and moved here in October for a job. Got a very good response from targeting startup companies directly.
A 50% response rate is promising. Perhaps the most infuriating aspect of job hunting thus far is the lack of feedback from job applications. Espcially on the big job search sites. As a result of the comments from you guys I am definitely going to change tack. It seems like targeting startups here in the area is the way to go.
You can get an even higher response rate by looking at the monthly "Who's Hiring" threads on HN. When I graduated from college, everybody back home was telling me that getting a job in this economy would be a terrible, several-month-long ordeal. It actually turned out to be pretty quick and straightforward, and I'm very happy with the results.