Look, I wouldn’t be posting here if I didn’t care for your situation.
Its a bitter pill, but I guarantee it’s shared by all those unemployed designers out there reading this right now who not only already have great portfolios, but are also agressively competing (against you!) for anything they can get.
Just being a designer is hard. You have to prove yourself constantly against the competition.
At this point, you need to get off the sidelines and get in the game mentally. You can’t play if you’re ready to get on (in!) the field.
Also, forget about your schooling. Everyone bitches about how their school didn’t prepare them. The 10% issue isn’t unique–it’s actually quite typical, even in good programs. I think this is partly becuase ID is such an open field…
My advice: get your portfolio together and looking great. Forget about 3-days a week–go out and sell yourself and sell your enthusiasm for design and being a designer. Forget about the money, it will come later (if you don’t suffer a little bit now, you’ll look back in 10 years with regret, and fewer options!)
Now get out there!