1. Focus on one company.
2. Learn all about them.
3. Tell them how much you want to work for them.
4. Be persistent (though succinct).
5. Do this until hired.

See the full article by Derek Sivers.

For further inspiration, read how Tom Williams got hired by Apple at 14, using this method.

via kotaku.com

via chemistry-blog.com

via visualeconomics.com

1. Reduce your big idea to Version 1.0.
2. Write a simple overview of what it does.
3. Write a detailed walk-through of every click.
4. Break it up into milestones.
5. Make your first milestone a stand-alone project.
6. Post it at elance, guru, odesk, vworker.
7. Hire one from each.
8. Continue with the one you like best.

See the full article by Derek Sivers.

For those who are programmers themselves, I recommend reading Getting Real by 37signals.