ElephantGirl

Hello, I'm having trouble getting into a research lab and would like opinions on how I could improve my chances. I got my BS in chemistry last May at a large university in the Midwest and moved to a big city on the coast with my long-time boyfriend, a current grad student. I wasn't sure which field I wanted to pursue after graduation so I decided to wait a year before applying for grad school. I planned to get research experience here; there are at least four nationally ranked schools within approximately an hour of my location. However, I've been highly unsuccessful so far. When I first got here last August, I became interested in computational chemistry so I looked around and found a single job in the field that I almost got (went through several interviews) but ended up getting passed over. I ended up going to work at a small chemistry company but I knew that wasn't what I wanted to do permanently. I thought that perhaps I was uncompetitive due to my chemistry major (most people that I see on comp chem lab rosters seem to come from physics or CS backgrounds), so I am taking a programming class at a local community college (pretty well known in the area) and am doing very well in the course. I recently quit my job (very difficult work environment) and started looking for a full time lab tech position. I emailed a couple professors, stated my interest to work in their lab, attached a resume and cover letter, and inquired about available positions. One of them told me to look at a particular lab at University X; the other didn't respond. I then emailed the professor at University X as well as two others; in my cover letter I said that I was interested in either paid or unpaid work. The lab at University X never answered; one of the others already said "no". Am I doing something wrong in the way I'm looking for labs and/or contacting professors? I might not be Marie Curie but I have a solid 3.6 GPA from a school that's well ranked in chemistry, I'm offering to work for free, and I'm still not receiving any interest. What am I doing wrong? Thanks in advance for replies!