Software engineering is a great skill to have and can help you in your own business. But it is a terrible career in its own.

Look into a trade. Technically-inclined like electricity, industrial automation, and so on.

You are not a failure. Don’t blame yourself for the circumstances in the industry. You accomplished a lot by completing your degree. Perhaps you could consider looking for work outside the US. Have you tried searching for a job in Europe?

Just build a startup.

EDIT: Building a startup gets you experience, connections and the grit that comes with actually building something. Being employee #440,670 does not; the end game is promotion or getting laid off. Just telling you how it is.

Unless you want to be in research (which the school does matter) instead of applying for jobs, just build a startup instead which gets you the experience you are looking for.

Look, sadly this is not gonna be an easy problem (not only for you but for anybody losing a job this days). Our industry has decided the productivity can be increased with less human force an it creates a bottleneck to join a company. Also, creating something by yourself to live from will be hard because SaaS is quickly dying. I have no solution for this problem, this is something new for all of us. You'll dedicate your time watching youtube videos about people surfing your same situation but no one has a real answer. Do not try to solve your own problems applying the same solutions than others, get out of your home look at your local community find a problem and find a solution that requires some real hands-on work (other colleague in this conversation talked about searching a trade, it's a good idea) Eveybody will tell you to not abandon your dreams but lets be practical, a dream without a way to take some food to the plate is just a nice idea in your mind. Be real, crude and honest with the world that we're all living. This is the new reality and sadly it's not your fault. Keep learning, training your technical skills (obviously) but be realistic about the chances. You can do it, do not lose your faith.

You have a resume or website I could take a look at?

My suggestion is to look at networking events and see if you can get involved in startups. You will be talking to people on the team and it's a good way to make connections.

I'd also look into the Education sector (i.e. colleges, universities, school districts) It's how I managed to get my start in tech. https://www.higheredjobs.com

And don't feel bad about it taking a while to find a job. I graduated a few years ago and it took me 6 months to get something lined up. The market is weird right now.

You are not a failure. You are being dealt a bad hand, and that has happened to entire generations before you.

When external structure disappears, you must replace it with internal structure. Keep a fixed daily routine. Get up at the same time every day and go to bed at the same time every night, regardless of mood or circumstances. Plan for eight hours of sleep. Treat this as non-negotiable.

Take care of your body. Exercise regularly, even if it feels pointless at first. Eat properly. These are not self-help platitudes; they are basic maintenance requirements for keeping your mind functional under prolonged stress.

Be very strict with digital consumption. Doomscrolling and sulking are forms of digital procrastination and they actively worsen the situation. Before switching on the TV, unlocking your smartphone, or engaging with any social media, do 20 push-ups. Every time. If you cannot do push-ups, replace them with squats or another short physical exercise. The goal is to insert friction and break the automatic habit loop.

Do not lie to your friends about your situation. That usually makes things worse over time, not better. People talk, and they already know more than you think anyway.

If you cannot find a job in tech right now, apply to other jobs you can realistically get. Any job. Then become very good at it. Be dependable, knowledgeable, and reliable.

At the same time, actively look for better opportunities. Treat this as an ongoing process, not something that passively happens to you. Apply, network, learn, and reposition yourself continuously. Your loyalty is first to yourself, second to your family, and then to the people you care about, never to an employer. When you find a better opportunity, take it. Change jobs if needed. Repeat.

This is not a judgment on your abilities. It is a rational response to current conditions.

Here's some actionable ideas: 1. try tech positions at non-tech companies, 2. be more flexible with location, maybe consider also overseas/across the border, 3. consider tech-adjacent positions that play to your strengths, 4. leverage your MIT prestige by applying to lower-ranked postgrad programs (assuming your profile isn't good enough for a top-tier program), 5. irrespective of what you did at MIT, maybe strengthen your tech fundamentals, especially if you feel insecure about your abilities