Left my PhD program but now cannot even get interviews for entry level anything

5.5 years ago I left my PhD program in biology focused on drug discovery and design after completing my project but being told I had not been in the program long enough and instead of being allowed to start writing my committee wanted me to add a new, independent project. I declined and left believing between my two undergrad degrees and my competency would be fine. In reality I cannot even get interviews for retail jobs majority of the time. I have had off and on jobs in retail and grocery for majority of the time since but none of those are career paying jobs. What do I need to do to break out of this cycle and get myself noticed and at least into the interview phase?