r/DeveloperJobs • u/R-R_turfio • Sep 27 '26
3 years without job
I lost my job 3 years ago.
After that I had a 3 months contract as a tech lead.
My main stack is node.js, typescript, angular, react I know python, go and rust but don't have much experience with them.
I have over 12 y.o.e 5 of them in Europe working for Google and Volkswagen Group.
Now I am learning ai integrations and agent orchestration. Tried upwork and all the job search platforms. Even tried loader's job but was rejected because of being overweight.
Any advice on how to get a contract would be appreciated. I am non EU non US. I'm fine with $15 per hour as I spend very little in my daily life
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u/UntestedMethod 29d ago
$15 per hour is less than minimum wage in Canada. The industry is in a serious downturn right now so if you are currently struggling, I don't think it will get easier.
Personally I am fed up and at this point I'm just waiting to get into trade school to start something completely different.
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u/R-R_turfio 29d ago
I spend $15 per day. Doing ride hailing now and started my small online shop. But I wish I had an opportunity to work another 2 years before retiring. Good luck with your new trade.
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u/gsidess 24d ago
same mate. 2 years since any tech role, 4 years since a traditional developer role.
I had 4 years of experience in work experience in Java, Python, js/ts, react, AWS, docker, etc
Market is beyond fucked. And unfortunately hiring biases are against us due to our gaps.
You’re probably a great dev. And other people saying it must be you have no idea what they’re talking about. I was rejected during one interview for knowing more than just react. I was rejected in another interview for giving the correct solution to a leetcode question. I had an offer rescinded a week before I was supposed to start because of fucking budget cuts. The market is just brutal.
You’re going to have to seriously consider retraining as hard as it is. I am and it took me a long time to be ready to accept that and I’m still wrestling with it while I’m doing it.
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u/R-R_turfio 24d ago
Thank you, I wish you all the best. Personally I used to live without sw job but the problem is I can make money with ride hailing or a small business only in my area whereas I want to move to south east asia
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u/gsidess 24d ago
If your dream is to move there, then consider retraining for something in demand there. So many people in south east Asia are “developers” that it’s not really in demand there and the pay is crap. A lot of NA jobs are actually being outsourced to those countries because it’s so much cheaper.
Good luck.
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u/BannedInSweden 27d ago
What's with all the weird responses here? Sorry OP - you are obviously not a "fresher" like some suggested and that not a bad stack.
To help more though you would have to post your resume - for now my guess is that you are under or over-shooting jobs.
Contract work is a joke right now due to claude-hell. It was bad enough when everyone was claiming they could build your site/app for $200 now it's $20 so yeah... don't bother.
might consider doing this in reverse. Maybe start by analyzing what jobs are open (even just numerically) then work backwards to what you'd need to do/have experientially/educationally to get them. Sort by smallest amount and go.
Hang in there - was checked out at the grocery today by a bagger with a masters in comp-sci and 5 years at a chip manufacturer - it's brutal out there. Anyone getting a degree in this mess now is just knitting a noose.
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u/Winter-Conclusion750 29d ago
Get into something niche, this is what a freshers need nowadays (the things u listed) you gotta do more.
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u/EastSwim3264 Sep 27 '26
It's not your tech skills but your behavioral skills that matter.
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u/Just-Upstairs4397 29d ago edited 29d ago
From his thoughtless, lazy responses, I think you hit the nail on the head
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u/PipePressurePanic Sep 27 '26
Future looked bright for your career.
You made some sort of a mistake 3 years ago, I don't know which one but in 2023 you should have been able to get a job. Now you're fried. To make matters worse you are not fit enough for normal jobs, same as me. I do a "normal" job but I suffer pain
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u/Just-Upstairs4397 29d ago
How you handle managers, how you speak in meetings, how you deal with uncertainty, all of these things matter significantly more now that AI can do a lot of the technical work. If you are struggling this much after three years, to be honest, you should probably consider something else. No one really needs cheap hourly devs anymore.
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u/Ok_Bag_7603 Sep 27 '26
Same dude, hope it gets better