How to ask professors to network for jobs?

How would you answer the question, "why hasn't your network referred you to any jobs"?

• Long story short, the jobs I've applied for during the four years since I've graduated with a master's degree in public administration have ranged from the analytical such as junior budget analyst; to the clerical such as office assistant; to the brawn-over-brains positions such as materials handler. My recent, unsuccessful interview for an LTE, minimum-wage manual labor job inspired my father to ask me, "Why aren't the people in your network referring you for a job? Did you go to school with a bunch of losers?" What do you recommend I tell my father?

• Answer:

  Well, I would probably say "I don't know," and think about the possibility that he might have a point.  Unfortunately, we don't live in a world where education and skills alone get people jobs.  Networking is just as important as those things, if not more important.  That's exactly why going to prestigious schools still matters so much; more classmates become successful, which exponentially adds value to a professional network.  So, maybe you should tell your father something like, "they haven't done enough, so I'm going to take a more proactive and aggressive approach to networking and push them to either refer me to jobs or other people that might."