I just went through something similar. As a result of my (then) undiagnosed ADHD, I failed out of college three times, couldn't hold down a decent job. Early on, I stumbled into a good gig as a game programmer and did that off and on for a few years. Because I didn't know then that I'm autistic, I got myself into some situations and ended up self-sabotaging my career and wrecked my entire life. Ruined my relationship with my boyfriend, along with most of my friends and I lost everything. I moved to a new city and started over.
I managed to figure my shit out (and get medicated) and found a decent menial corporate job. Over the next 2-3 years I sent out hundreds of applications for boring enterprise programming because programming is the only thing I've been moderately successful at.
Worked my way up to assistant manager at the corporate job and immediately, deeply regretted it. Job applications increased in desperation, but no interest from anyone that seemed legitimate.
There's no moral about perserverence here, I got stupid lucky. A startup found my resume on Indeed and emailed me out of the blue. I had just recently updated my resume to include every skill I was even passingly familiar with, and they picked up on my experience with electronics.
Now I am more or less a R&D engineer. I develop hardware and firmware for current and new products, innovate new types of hardware and generally get to dick around and explore whatever field I like.
This kind of role has been the secret hope in my heart of hearts since I was a kid. Something I'd always assumed was unattainable and never let myself think about too much.
Needless to say, I never expected to get here, but I couldn't be happier.
I don't really have any advice. I got here through sheer luck and the ability to seem like I know much more than I do. I massively impressed during my interview and my varied skills turned out to be precisely what the company needed at the time.
I padded my resume with every skill I thought I could confidently bullshit my way through. Total hail Mary, but it worked. Dunno if I'd recommend this strategy, but I was desperate
ETA: I got the new job just before my 30th birthday. Most of the disaster was in my late 20's. I still feel like I wasted all of my 20's and I don't know if I'll ever be okay with that. Just have to move on
I managed to figure my shit out (and get medicated) and found a decent menial corporate job. Over the next 2-3 years I sent out hundreds of applications for boring enterprise programming because programming is the only thing I've been moderately successful at.
Worked my way up to assistant manager at the corporate job and immediately, deeply regretted it. Job applications increased in desperation, but no interest from anyone that seemed legitimate.
There's no moral about perserverence here, I got stupid lucky. A startup found my resume on Indeed and emailed me out of the blue. I had just recently updated my resume to include every skill I was even passingly familiar with, and they picked up on my experience with electronics.
Now I am more or less a R&D engineer. I develop hardware and firmware for current and new products, innovate new types of hardware and generally get to dick around and explore whatever field I like.
This kind of role has been the secret hope in my heart of hearts since I was a kid. Something I'd always assumed was unattainable and never let myself think about too much.
Needless to say, I never expected to get here, but I couldn't be happier.
I don't really have any advice. I got here through sheer luck and the ability to seem like I know much more than I do. I massively impressed during my interview and my varied skills turned out to be precisely what the company needed at the time.
I padded my resume with every skill I thought I could confidently bullshit my way through. Total hail Mary, but it worked. Dunno if I'd recommend this strategy, but I was desperate
ETA: I got the new job just before my 30th birthday. Most of the disaster was in my late 20's. I still feel like I wasted all of my 20's and I don't know if I'll ever be okay with that. Just have to move on