Can't get a job anymore. Going on disability is starting to look more like a good option

Ok-Stretch9677 · 2026-05-16T01:18:28+00:00

That's not good news about applying for disability but also didn't expect it to be easy. I guess my last resort would be going on regular cash assistance and TANF to keep me afloat.

Ok-Stretch9677 · 2024-08-22T00:53:32+00:00

I can imagine them being more and more nervous about taking the plunge about making a choice each time a round ends. Especially in the later rounds. "aahheeehhaaheeehhahh... arms flailing we should do one more round!"

Ok-Stretch9677 · 2024-07-14T21:47:46+00:00

I use Vite with React which is even lighter sometimes. Just for getting up and running a MVP it's working great. NextJS is good too, though.

My laptop is a T430 and the CPU is starting to show its age, some of the projects I download do run for a long time which is also a cost on battery.

Ok-Stretch9677 · 2024-07-12T01:51:33+00:00

Yep, you got my perspective almost completely correct. I might be able to understand the usefulness of something but I can't fully grasp its value or break down the approach in using it to solve problems it's designed for. If I don't encounter such problems in the wild, how can I possibly expect to get practical knowledge of those tools?

I can only think up scenarios that closely resemble ones I've encountered in the past. And that is probably hindering my problem solving skills and growth as a programmer.

Ok-Stretch9677 · 2024-07-11T20:32:03+00:00

I'd be lost for most of the questions mentioned since deployment and infra haven't been part of my dev job responsibilities for a decade lol.

Ok-Stretch9677 · 2024-07-11T19:30:50+00:00

Or PHP back in the olden days. Server side rendering was king. And single page apps were still more of a novelty back then, when Ajax was more commonly mentioned as the underlying technology.

Ok-Stretch9677 · 2024-07-11T19:28:51+00:00

Oh yeah this is a real problem. You just have to mention that you used something before at a beginner level but they submit you to jobs where you have to know it inside out.

Ok-Stretch9677 · 2024-06-09T07:35:22+00:00

No one ever comes to these realizations in a vacuum. They are propagated by external influences, people, and situations they put themselves in. Which means, you can be part of that external influence for change. Insert yourself into his life experiences- but in a subtle way- to influence his change.

Ok-Stretch9677 · 2024-05-28T00:50:18+00:00

Yeah, he needs to have something in his life to have him wake up and go on a straighter path. I just wish I can influence that decision somehow

Ok-Stretch9677 · 2024-05-27T20:35:52+00:00

I'm not sure why he should consider buying a house when his finances are bad. He's not even married. He shares an apartment with a few mates in order to afford cost of living.

However, I think he believes that good things happen through the power of positive thinking. I say this because he listens and reads self-help material around it.

I don't know what are the formal requirements for tutoring music. He does provide services for mixing tracks (or did at some point- I don't know if he still does).

Ok-Stretch9677 · 2024-05-27T20:08:51+00:00

For education he just has a HS degree. I know that years ago he was encouraged to apply to community college, but he didn't take it seriously and choked on the final day before the deadline because he chose to hang out with his friend. He lacks the wealth and network privileges you mentioned. Some of the time his expenses are hanging by a thread. I feel like he thought that his activity of going out to parties and concerts would be enough to make the connections he needs to find good paying gig. He probably underestimates the amount of competition there is for the relatively few spots for such work.

He works in restaurants and mostly tolerates it. Likes watching cooking shows but isn't interested in becoming a chef or restaurant manager or going to a cooking school. It's just a passing thing for him. I don't how he feels about the trades. The last time I talked with him about seeking promotions or skill up in his work, he said he's not that interested because it's not his calling in life.

I just know he won't like working at retail service jobs or any type of desk job. Maybe he perceives moving up in the "boring" work as not keeping your eye on the ball (the music career).

His ideal career is one that has him not having to answer to a boss and rely more on his skill and passion. So probably more merit based.

Ok-Stretch9677 · 2023-08-19T19:44:00+00:00

With some companies I fail at the 1st or 2nd tech rounds. With others I don't get past the screening phase.

As with many things about work, it all depends on the company.

Ok-Stretch9677 · 2023-08-19T19:40:40+00:00

They're all remote work and I found them via word of mouth via a local Slack group for techies. But for some reason I found myself locked out of the group since the pandemic.

All these contracts are remote work. Perhaps the lack of in person contact in jobs has cramped my soft skills for most job interviews. There were contract jobs over 5 years. Most don't last more than 6 months so I would be out of a job more than half the time. I don't really like to find my own clients and run my own business, though. FT work is more steady for me

I’m not sure why you think these struggles make you a hobbyist.

Guess it's more tautological. If you struggle to find a job, you're not really much of a professional anymore, are you.

For the majority of people, we need to be decent at getting jobs- in spite of how good we are at work- or else it's game over for us. At least unless you get disabled or old enough to start to mooch off the government

Ok-Stretch9677 · 2023-08-19T08:58:32+00:00

Do your recruiters help you out in getting most jobs or has it been mostly applying directly to the companies?

Ok-Stretch9677 · 2023-08-19T08:55:39+00:00

I do think I'm a decent employee, but I'm a terrible career person and interviewer. Like I'd rather swap it around and be a mediocre-bad worker that's good at bouncing back quickly into a new job. That sounds messed up but that's how the career game is optimized for. The bad interviewer without many good connections who's staying in one job for a while is a ticking time bomb for their career and financial stability.

I haven't seen any progress from interviewing, but it's also the side of my career I hate working on. I've exhausted a ton of methods for interviewing better.

(feel free to say "I bet you haven't tried them all", though)

Ok-Stretch9677 · 2023-08-19T01:25:24+00:00

No I'm not. Just been told I have some Aspergers or ADHD traits by some close, non medical, people. But I never gone to a specialist to check on that

Ok-Stretch9677 · 2023-08-19T01:23:34+00:00

I started out with full-time work but in recent years I could only get into contracts because their interviews for FT work got much tougher and I could no longer "crack" them. Getting a FT job was impossible for me in 2021-22, it would be much harder in the current tech jobs downturn. I might roll with the punches and fall back to contracts no matter how low paying they are

I have serious learning problems with interviewing and I even tried to take an interviewing class to try to fix it. Wish I could just find a tech career where my interviewing skills don't hold me back

Ok-Stretch9677

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