2022 was still a very good time because either the pandemic overhiring was still going on or it was slowly stopping. 2024 is the phase where companies are laying off people they overhired or it can be the unofficial economic recession is what my professors told me. I do have one internship and I did some research assistant work. After graduating, I am a research assistant with another professor executing more hard AI skills and even doing a remote Machine Learning Engineer role for a company based in my home country to just gain more work experience. I will definitely try to use LinkedIn more to seek referrals. I did ask a few close friends for referrals but I got automatic rejections because of a lack of work experience. I am hoping to gain atleast one year of work experience in six months by working two jobs(assuming research assistantship counts for work experience too..lol) so that I can atleast get some interview practice instead of an automatic rejection due to not meeting the requirements. And to answer your next question, I am in Philadelphia and I would consider it a big city but not so much with respect to tech opportunities. I'm not sure though.