Just lost my year long placement because they have no work. Begging for advice 
randomtask: First of all fair deuce. I wish I had the motivation you do when I was in your position.My suggestion is to take a year out anyway even if you don't find something and work a part time job while doing some open source development. This way you will get the experience of working on a large development project with people. When it comes time to interview you will have code that has made it into software that your prospective employer might even use. Also when they google you your name will appear associated with this work.The successful applicants for the Google SoC have been announced already and there are a whole load of good projects that didn't get picked. You could pick one, approach the team, and tell them you're willing to work on it if they'll mentor you a bit.