I used to be an independent consultant, and my partner worked in the upper corporate world. My work dried up after T took office since I did government-parallel work. Hard to complain, because it was unethical and I didn’t like earning income via gov. contractors anyway, but it was what I stumbled into years earlier. My partner is a POC and hit the glass ceiling, and then became promptly burnt out and had to quit for mental health reasons.
We lost our house a year later, had to sell everything, and suffice it to say we ended up in Latam, where we are now. But we’ve been looking for work for going on almost two years now, and I can’t find shit. I’m in my late 30s and I have no clue what to do. Savings won’t last forever.
So anyway, what do all of you do? Who in gods name is making livable income these days? I haven’t had a single phone interview in who knows how long. I have 3-4 friends back home who’re also out of work, and are doing basically what I am: winging it until their savings dries up. The only thing I have on track is that I re-enrolled in school, and around next summer when I graduate will shoot for an English teaching position in China. If I can survive that long anyway.
I live in a global south country, so chances are my experience won’t be of real use to you.
I grew up with a computer and an internet connection in the 2000s, which allowed me to learn English as well as some basic technical skills. Later, this would encourage me to take up an IT program in university/college.
Using the skills I learned from school, troubleshooting my own computer, and later watching a few YouTube playlists, I began to attend exams for public sector jobs. I was unemployed for 2 years, but now have a medium salary that I consider to be a great starting point.
Glad to hear you made it out of the weeds. It takes such a long time these days which makes it that much harder.