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.
You might need 6 months or more to find a new gig, and the response rate for applying is very low across the board.
I'm in a similar position, and would love to take time off, but I'm actively launching resumes into the ether to see what happens in the interim.
Plenty of scams, and lots of "ghosting."
But yes even the thought of doing an interview is invoking enough anxiety to make me sweat. I wouldn't even have the mental capacity to 'sell myself' to my mom right now. I would definitely have to reduce $JOB effort to interview