silvercymbals

Reducing myself to the career mean of a midwest town sounds worse than checking myself into a mental institution.

Worst case maybe I'll join the military

It's really scary out there - I couldn't imagine what it would be like to not have any hard skills during this recession.

thanks - this is what I'm getting by on for now

This is a fantastic analysis.

I didn't want to go here, but I do have direct knowledge from two final rounds I was passed over for that h1b visa holders were selected instead of me and paid less. (I knew employees at these startups)

Part of why I'm just considering doing something else is the fact that so much of this work is going to be outsourced. Most of my friends who are actively running startups don't even bother hiring inside the US and just use latam contractors.

Unfortunately, I need money. I have effectively a net zero income for 2025, this after years of entrepreneurship just isn't good enough. I find it ironic how on HN anyone advocating to push themselves into a position where they have more options (more income) is met with accusations of being "entitled" or outlandish.

Let's say my skillset isn't as "senior" as I think, how on earth do I escape the tar-pit of being a semi-junior senior (to quote DHH)? This problem is what's been tearing me apart... I genuinely don't know what to do.

I also have some medical stuff I need taken care of and I can't afford to liquidate more of my retirement. So "bootstrapping" another company is just something I'm not interested in.

Hope things get better! Thanks for your thoughts :)

Thanks for your thoughts - but I'm not going to pat myself on the back trying to make the US median income. To be clear, I'd accept anything over $70k at this point.

this has been precisely my experience

frankly, if an offer presented itself for $80k a year I'd take it (it's embarrassing but that's just where I am at the moment)

hard to say - just trying to figure it out

I've run out of options in my network and at this point I just need to make at least $70k before I have to resort to working at a UPS store or something that will cause my skills to further deteriorate.

Couldn't agree more - I'd even be open to an unpaid contract period before an offer goes fulltime.

I've actually never really had issues passive system design rounds. I had to get through those to get to both on-sites I mentioned. It's partially why I started applying to solutions eng roles.

Fortunately I have some vaguely profitable side projects that keep me busy - trying to stay sharp with those.

Aside from that and leetcode what would you recommend I do to practice?

They've given some - all I've really received is "your solutions were interesting and passed the bar, but we proceeded with another candidate"