Good for him, looking at it all as a learning and building experience. All you can do is keep at it, eventually things will turn around. As the old saying goes, 'this too shall pass'.

Way to go. Take what you've got and run with it. The job market will be back. Take a class or two on the side if you can, it will keep you learning and show future employers that you want to take the opportunity to grow. Get your MS, these days it's hard to find a lot with just the BS. When I was out with the BS, it was the early days of the dot-com boom. What did I do? A research fellowship at a European university while my friends became millionaires at startups. By the time I finished grad school, the dot-com bubble had burst. You can't time your life with the market. You're young and there will be plenty of jobs in the bay area as the market improves. When you do land the job you like, you'll appreciate it more. And looking for a new job after that one will seem easy. Good luck.

Good for you. Thanks for sharing your story. Now keeping up your existing friendships, you can look to build new ones in a 'professional social' way. Informational interviewing with your ChemEng esp Stanford alumni may be a helpful way for future opportunities as I'm sure you've heard before. :)

I can email offline, as you may have run across these alums already. Happy to introduce you. Joseph, phD Stanford ChemEng had a much-longer-than-expected job search and finally landed in Portland, OR Intel fab for a good position. His sister, Esther also ChemEng found a great position with Caliper here in Mountain View. Both left their jobs getting married! For sure, they left leaving excellent impressions of Stanford ChemEng. Perhaps they and others can help you in your future.
Best wishes always!

Go to Texas or Okla or La, where the oil industry is! And a lot closer to your folks in Ky.

I understand the overqualified term...I believe that simple people does not seem to understand how really complicated things work...
Honestly, it's sometimes a waste of time just because my brain wiring is or "was" suited for big challenges, or at least I had another ideal.
But anyhow, I understood things have to go "with the program"
Good luck:)

College is a f***in waste of time and money .. You do t have to go to college to make decent money anymore .