The job market is tough, and the entry-level hiring process is pretty broken for general applicants.
But still, it feels like there is some missing information here. Surely, with a summa cum laude from Rice and a Ph.D. from Princeton in ChemE, he has impressed someone along the way. He needs to concentrate on places where he has a connection, however tenuous. Especially at the relatively rarefied Ivy STEM Ph.D. level...
If he is having trouble getting people to make connections for him, well, that would definitely be an important piece of the puzzle...
But still, it feels like there is some missing information here. Surely, with a summa cum laude from Rice and a Ph.D. from Princeton in ChemE, he has impressed someone along the way. He needs to concentrate on places where he has a connection, however tenuous. Especially at the relatively rarefied Ivy STEM Ph.D. level...
If he is having trouble getting people to make connections for him, well, that would definitely be an important piece of the puzzle...