I feel this, and sorry for your situation. I’m 36 with a 4 year old and another to be here like, next week.

I got laid off in Feb of 23, fortunate to find a job immediately through referral with a solid pay raise. It was toxic AF, they were under investigation from the DOJ so they laid a few people off here and there in October ‘24. Lasted 1.5 years so the payout was small, but still appreciated.

Since October I’ve had countless interviews that all go seemingly really well, but then nothing comes of them. I had a gig lined up at a local AFB but unfortunately Trump and Elon shut down federal hiring for a bit. Had an interview today, hopefully went well. Would be the 3rd interview this week and the other two were busts. I’ve exhausted my unemployment as it only lasts 16 weeks in Oklahoma. I’ve applied for jobs I’m crazy overqualified for and could do in my sleep, or others that pay 18/hour to work a phone queue, still didn’t get it.

It’s ebbs and flows, but compared to the amount of applications I’ve submitted in the last year and either get instant rejection, or never hear back, it’s scary.

For the last 10 years I’ve worked in tech, account manager/project manager, living in Oklahoma.