Unemployed for 7 months after graduation 🥲 - Need Advice

Hey everyone,

I graduated with my Master’s in Robotics from a public Ivy(USA) this May and have been job hunting in the Computer Vision field ever since. I had 1.5 years of CV experience (ML-based) before my master’s, so I thought I’d be in decent shape—but man, it’s been tough.

I’ve had a few interviews so far. Some I’ll admit I felt a bit nervous, but there were others where I genuinely thought I nailed it. You know that feeling when everything clicks, and you leave thinking, “This has to be it!”? Yeah, that. Then a week later, the rejection email shows up out of nowhere.

What really gets me is the hiring managers—some seem super friendly and impressed during the interview, but after the rejection, they just disappear if I reach out for feedback. It’s like going from “We’ll stay in touch!” to complete radio silence.

Honestly, it’s exhausting. I’m starting to wonder what I’m doing wrong or if there’s something I’m missing. If any experienced CV engineers have advice on interviews, resumes, portfolio projects, or even how to keep your sanity during this process, I’d really appreciate it.

And if anyone else is going through this—let’s vent together. It’s rough out here.

Thanks for reading.

P.S. I’m not a US citizen, so I would require visa sponsorship.