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Ask HN: Facing unemployment – what now?

48 points octo888 | 1 comments | 16 May 25 18:36 UTC | HN request time: 0.226s | source

Hey everyone, I could really use some advice.

I’ll likely be out of a job soon — whether I’m fired or I quit first. Health issues, silent breakdowns, being on the spectrum, poor social skills have caused me to damage my work relationships beyond repair.

So, I'm planning my next steps.

Some context:

- I’m 40.

- I struggle with networking, so I have no professional connections.

- My savings can last about two year, and a part-time job could stretch that.

- I haven’t interviewed in years and get extremely anxious in interviews.

- I'm a tech generalist

- I'm quite disillusioned with tech + corporate world, and a bit burnt out. This AI hype, Agile, having to fake excitement about the latest shiny new thing, KPIs etc.

People say I'm pretty good with 2 non-tech things. There are some relatively easy (but not free) qualifications/courses I could do in those areas (I don't want to dox myself here with specifics). I'm open to being self employed.

I also would like to use this time to focus on my health (I have things I need to escalate with my doctor and I need to work on my body), see more of my family, and work on my mental health. I'd also be interested in using my skills for something other than making a rich person richer - something local, for a charity perhaps.

...or am I dreaming and this an indulgence I can't afford?

If you have advice, ideas, personal experiences, etc, I’d really appreciate it.

1. nico ◴[16 May 25 20:00 UTC] No.44009281[source]▶
I can relate, been in a very similar situation

Some recommendations: take care of yourself, it might feel like a chore, but it’s important. Personally, exercising regularly (15-45 min mon-fri) helped me get out of a very long rut

Also, pace yourself, but keep going, try to apply to 1-2 jobs every day to keep consistency

If/when you are out of a job, try to keep a project going that makes you feel productive, even if you are not making money, feeling like you got something done makes a huge difference

Edit: use ChatGPT voice mode on your phone to prepare for interviews, it’s pretty good at role playing, coaching and encouraging

A bit of a plug: I built this command line tool that uses AI to help you find jobs and track applications - https://github.com/nicobrenner/commandjobs

Feel free to use it, and would me more than happy if you want to contribute or collaborate on it

Finally, a lot of people go through what you are going through, especially people in the spectrum. Try to stay connected to friends, family, loved ones, or even join a group related to one of your interests

Good luck and contact me via GitHub if you want to talk in more detail about anything