It's not too hard to get a job in the Valley if you're competent - I find it very easy to get an offer at most companies. There are a fraction of companies that try to get too clever and find ways to reject people (one rejection from a startup I got was "relying on modern tools") instead of building a profile of people's capabilities, and then there are the Googles and Facebooks, but most have fairly easy interview processes.
I am currently one level lower than the hiring manager for engineering at my company in Palo Alto, and found that we don't reject candidates for a mistake unless a candidate outright lied or did something unacceptable. We build a profile of the person, and then make a decision as to whether we can fit the person within our org for our needs - if not, then we pass, and if we can, we extend an offer.
I also found it pretty easy to find a job in the DC area in tech after getting experience - the one thing that wasn't competitive there was pay, which is how I landed in the Valley.