Forward to my university years, I got into computer science because I thought writing code for the rest of my life would be as cool as it was in my teen years. For a moment, during my university years, it was! I aced my classes and was happily writing code for projects and coming up with unique little tools and ideas to build.
After graduation, I hit a brick wall. I found out there are very few jobs for programmers in my country, and almost none in my city. I searched for months, but in the end, I settled for a tutoring role. I worked as a tutor for two years, and then, just with sheer luck, I found a paid internship, applied, and was offered the position. I think I got offered the internship because the pay was low—it was basically slave labor—but it was decent by my country’s standards. I believed that building my reputation, network, and experience working with a US-based startup was worth more than the pay.
I worked as an intern for 6 months, then moved to a Jr. Role, doing full-stack work. I worked as a Jr for 8 more months, then the startup failed to secure funding. So, again, I was unemployed.
I got referred to a different startup by my old employer, started working there as the only frontend developer, the pay was good, and the work was good, but that startup also failed to secure funding, and I was let go.
Now, I am unemployed. I applied to hundreds, if not thousands, of openings on LinkedIn, HackerNews’ monthly “Who is Hiring” threads, but got nothing.
I am now in an existential crisis, local work where I live is almost non-existent, and even if I do come across an opening, the pay is not even decent by my standards; it simply is not worth the effort. So, my goal is to find contract roles and fully remote roles abroad, and honestly, I don’t know how viable that goal is now.
I am even thinking of shifting my focus away from software development due to the market saturation worldwide.
What would you do if you were me? I’m looking for real, honest, and thoughtful feedback.