[latchkey]

Going through recruiters is the worst. I recently referred a friend of mine to a CTO friend of a popular company that they wanted to work at. The CTO told me that my friend should go through their jobs page because their team is very much on top of hiring. I told my friend to do that and let me know if they don't get a response. A week later, my friend says there was no response (I kind of predicted the what was going to happen). Pinged the CTO and before I could even respond to my friend, the recruiter had set up a meeting. Good lesson for the CTO and hopefully my friend gets the job.

I assume that during your 4 years you made a few friends in CS. They might be working at a nice job now. I'd ask them to put a good word in for you or somehow fast track your resume. It isn't guaranteed, but it is far better than cold emailing.

Also note, a lot of the big companies have recently had layoffs and hiring freezes. You might be shooting too far for the stars. Try smaller companies that you might not have heard of before. Get more creative than cold emails.