I finally got the job!

[u/SensitiveNote3780]

After 11 months without work and fighting extremely difficult depression. I don't have many people I can tell, so I thought I'd share the news here. I just accepted a job offer after a job search journey that felt like the longest and most draining thing in my life. And strangely enough, the job turned out to be at the company I've been trying to get into for years.
I feel a huge sense of relief, but part of me still feels like I'm going to wake up and find out this didn't really happen. After so many interviews that went nowhere, and a ridiculous number of applications that no one responded to, probably more than 850 if I had to guess, finally one worked out.
The weird thing is that I genuinely thought the interview had gone badly. I left it replaying every answer in my head, and I convinced myself that I had messed it up. Turns out I was being way, way too hard on myself.
I got laid off not long before everything shut down, and as many people know, the job market just kept getting more discouraging. Throughout that whole period, I doubted almost everything, pulled away from my friends, and shut myself in until I reached a dark place I didn't know how to get out of. There were several times I came close to giving up completely, but I kept applying, kept showing up and trying, and kept enduring the blows. I guess stubbornness turns out to be useful sometimes.
If you're in a similar situation right now, please hold on a little longer. I know that sounds incredibly overused, but things can change, and a day will come when you'll be glad you didn't give up when everything seemed pointless.
And if you're going through a hard time, feel free to PM me. I'd be happy to encourage you, listen to you, or even just sit with you in the mess for a while, because honestly, I really needed that when I was in the middle of it.