Looking for advice while job searching

Hi, I've worked with generative AI for close to about 2 years and have been job hunting for around 4 months or so. While I did get rejected in interviews, I want to know what mistakes I'm making while job hunting.

I'm barely getting any call backs from HRs and I'm not negotiating my pay as well since I'm laid off with only around 2 YOE. Do you guys have any advice to improve my number of callbacks? Are referrals the way to go, I have a strong network and could tap into it or else do you guys recommend cold emailing?

I'm shocked that despite working fully on generative AI that I'm struggling right now which I think is because of my low yoe and since I only worked for a early stage startup, I don't have a brand name on my resume and come from a tier 2 type of college.