Ideas on how to find work?

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Any of you who work - what do you do and how did you get your jobs?
I just had a completely demoralising encounter with a job services agency, who basically told me I expect everything to be easy and offered up on a platter. This confused me, as I have had two major surgeries in 2015, the last one only in November, for a condition that could have killed me. I had been chronically ill and consistently misdiagnosed, on disability and in chronic pain, for over two years before it was corrected. I also had a partially interrelated issue that I have had a tenuous lid on only since September, but which is ongoing. And they accuse me of expecting ease.
I think this was due to me pointing out that looking up online job sites and clicking 'apply' was obviously ineffective, and I was coming to them, as a supposed expert in the ways of getting people back into work, expecting them to have alternative approaches. They told me to look on job sites and click 'apply.' I think they may have been aggressive because they were offended that I expected something better from an employment agency. Whenever I methodically explained why the approaches they suggested had not been effective for me and had therefore been discounted, they talked over me and made personal accusations, such as I was not "performing the part," or that I didn't know "how it really is in this world," when all I was doing was recounting facts - I had indeed attempted said approach, it had been unsuccessful for these reasons, I need to try something else.
So. With both online job sites and employment agencies (since they're apparently the same thing) ineffective, does anyone know of a way to find work that actually is effective? Ideas?

I usually find jobs by asking people I know if they know if any places that are hiring. I then use those people as references. Networking is very important when finding a job. It's not what you know but who you know. The other thing that has worked is responding in person to "now hiring" signs. If I see a sign, I go in the business looking presentable and ready to fill out an application. I fill out the application and turn it in as soon as I can. I follow up with a phone call if they tell me to call, jump through whatever hoops are necessary. I have very rarely gotten a job by filling out applications on-line. There is a reason for this. HR firms use the on-line application process to weed out applicants. They don't even look at 90% of the online applications. People are less likely to turn you down for a job if you show up in person and show them you really want the position.