Wow, tough situation. Glad you got through it.
I tried to found a startup with a buddy. He had a great idea, but it turned out that he didn’t have the technical chops to fulfill his end. Bummed around after that on money and stocks from my previous gig. When I finally tried to get a job again, I couldn’t get a callback to save my life.
I kept moving down the food chain all the way to regular physical labor. I couldn’t even get a job at a vet or grocery store. Having major tech employment on my resume meant they knew I’d bounce the second I had the opportunity. It was a toxic dilemma resume: too high of a former position to qualify for something like retail, too long without a job to qualify for other office jobs.
I got back on top through a temp gig. Having recent employment got other tech employers to actually consider me again, and I’ve been ok since. I never would have imagined what that gap could do to make me impossible to hire.
Unfortunately this all happened in my early 20s, I went to college after, but there’s still a big gap that can’t be explained by school alone (and it’s a gap because I had military service prior to that which I always list)
I got stuck on the tempy-go-round (only able to find contracts due to gaps, and too many contracts to land a permanent job - several employers asked why I prefer contracts… I don’t, it’s all I could get… but that answer is it’s own can of worms…). I finally found a permanent job and realized I spent so much time on contracts that I can’t do the same thing day in day out for more than a year without driving myself bonkers. Ultimate catch-22.
So I’m going back to contracts. However, not entry level desperation contracts, ones actually using my degree. Covid remote work was an absolute silver lining for my field - used to be impossible to find positions, now they are there and pay super well (6 mths to make what I make in a year now), but mostly contract.
