Ask HN: I can't find a job. What do I do?

I have avoided applying for traditional jobs for the last 10-15 years and instead focused on "freelance" (mainly Upwork). For several reasons: because it was easier to get remote work that way, because I wanted to make sure I had time to work on my own startups, to try to avoid office politics, and because it was actually easier to get that type of work instead of "real" jobs.

Basically, I "outsourced myself".

The reality for me has been a pretty poor income. Although there have been a few times where I managed to get something like a business going for a short time. And I have not been without work for any significant amount of time.

Anyway, even though it also can be brutal to find work and you have to watch out for awful clients which are plentiful, Upwork (and relatively few other sites/apps) now has a virtual monopoly on online freelance work. At least for any project which has significant budget constraints.

You can go on there and find something that looks like a spec and just pretend they hired you. Build it out and put it in your GitHub and developer profile. Keep doing that for some months and eventually you can build up some projects in some areas and be confident that you can apply for them and they will see related work in your profile.

Another aspect of this is networking. That doesn't come naturally to me and I have had limited success. But about 1.5-2 years ago I did manage to get myself accepted into a particular community and niche where I had a web application that was popular with users in that niche.

From that web application and through referrals in that community, I managed to get away from Upwork for awhile and pick up contracts directly through Discord.

I think the key there was being embedded in that specific community with software that was used for that specific niche application inside of that community.

So you could try that. Literally find some activity or interest group that seems interesting to you and just get absorbed into it to the point where you are figuring out how to make tools that you know for sure will help people in that community do that specific task. Easier said than done. But doable.

Your other option would be to change job markets to where they don't prioritize the University degree after you've had some job experience. That being said 3 years of job experience is not a replacement for a 4 University degree. Even in the United States where it is still possible to work your way into positions without the University degree that is simply not enough experience to be considered. At dropping out of college and 3 years of experience you would still be looking at a non-software engineer entry level position. You would be doing support or systems administration and from there you could demonstrate the skills to move into a software engineering position.

Some other red flags are you say this is your first job you've had and you got it 3 years after you dropped out of University. Health, family, life situations do come up that cause you to take this kind of break in these kind of gaps but employers don't care. As people they may understand these things happen but as an employer looking for an employee they don't care. That's why I really think overall your best option return to University complete the degree and then with the degree your prior experience will matter and that Gap will go away.

So, when you do get that interview, just say that the opportunities for learning new things are your current job are limited, or something else that is true but not too negative-sounding. I have seen candidates who trash talk their current or former employer in an interview get rejected for that reason, because immediately people wonder, "will they talk like that about us if they get this job?"

Also, keep in mind that the problem is not you, it's that the programmer job market is saturated with the Big Tech layoffs from earlier in the year, so keep your self-esteem up and your skills sharp and in time things will turn around.