I was set to go into academia. I spent my entire grad school without any tech internships, and did research every summer. Months before my graduation, my ex-wife wanted a divorce, and one reason (out of many) was not seeing a future together as I will be in remote places(where most universities are), and she want to be in a big city.
Trying to save my marriage, I declined my postdoc offers and start to look for jobs in the industry in the big cities. It was difficult, as I haven't programmed for years. I applied to every major tech companies and financial companies. I asked for referrals from my friends. I got no responses from most of the companies. The only two responded was a company I worked for before entering grad school, and a company that was trying to double their engineering team. It was very demoralizing.
It was surely the darkest days of my life. I questioned my self-worth. Feeling that I am not someone to be desired both personally and professionally.
My advisor, who was really kind and understanding and I'm forever grateful to, used his connection to get me interviews I'm sure I could not possibly gotten if I applied directly. In fact, I can't even apply directly, because some of the positions were not advertised. Finally, one of the places gave me an offer, and that is what I took, and I have been working there since.