conversation: User (failing11swe): "I'm a software engineer, but my career history suggests that I'm a failing software engineer. I'm tired of it and want to reach the upper limits of what I can accomplish financially as a software engineer. For that, I want to start with a short term goal of getting a good paying job ASAP.\n\n**Some background**\n\nSince graduation (4 year degree, but not in Computer Science), I've always been going back and forth between working as a contractor (but they're the low-end low-paying types) for about a year or two, and applying for jobs for another year or two. And going back to being broke in the process. Rinse and repeat.\n\nSo with the money I have left, and no good network (despite working for 8 years), I'm looking for a quick way to re-gain employment as a software engineer at a job with a steady cash flow and great income. Many software engineers get paid loads of money and make enough income to retire in 10-15 years. I want to be like them. Going by those numbers, I should have 6 figures worth of savings by now, but clearly that didn't pan out for me.\n\n**Previous jobs**\n\nAccording to salary statistics, the average entry-level software developer earns $30-35k a year. To begin with. Someone with my length of experience should be making $100k a year on average. On the other hand, I have made $15/hr as a new grad, and have maxed out at $25/hr. That puts me in the lowest 10 percentile of all local software engineer salaries. On top of that it takes me anywhere between six months to two years of job hunting to get an offer. So clearly that's the result of being perceived as a low-tier SWE.\n\nMy network isn't so good either. I find all jobs just browsing local job listings. It sucks. I know it's the least effective way to get a good job, but on the other hand, I suck at networking also. None of my colleagues or friends have successfully led me to interviews that convert to job offers. I live in Chicago. The job market's not as good compared to tech hubs like the Bay Area or Seattle, but it's not bad either. I'm just a huge outlier when it comes to my salary and job history.\n\nAs for what kind of software work I do, it's web development for a few WordPress/eCommerce agencies, plus back-end programming for one small startup that has struggled to go anywhere.\n\n**Current situation**\n\nNow I have $1200 left over saved for a short contract developer gig I recently finished. I currently live with my mom to make ends meet and would like to move out again.\n\nPersonal details: 35/M, no relationship or kids. Zero debt. The only big financial responsibility I have is paying my bills (as long as this money lasts) and paying part of the rent, but since I live with my mom I think that is just throwing money away as long as I don't work.\n\nSo how can I use this $1200 to best leverage my situation? I want to drastically turn my life around, perhaps within a few weeks to a month.\n\n**What I'm looking for**\n\nI'm not really here expecting a "get rich quick" scheme. And I'm not interested in being my own business. I'm more looking for "get a relevant, great paying job quick" scheme, at least for the short term. Hopefully that is more realistic. A great paying software job before the end of the year, but I'll probably stretch it to end of January if necessary to handle the holiday schedule."
  Self: "Have you gone to any tech meetups to figure out if there are some skills you need to pick up in order to qualify yourself for higher paying jobs?  Like there's one in Chicago for tech interviewing https://www.meetup.com/Chicago-Tech-Interviews/ , where you might be able to get some feedback.\n\n\nI'm assuming based on your Wordpress experience that a lot of your experience is in PHP.  In my personal experience PHP is generally not considered as trendy as other languages."
  User (failing11swe): "I've started going to some of these meetups about 18 months ago. And have talked to programmers at local meetup events. I get to know about other businesses and get their business cards. Then I email some of the ones I'm most interested in. \n\nI repeat this every meetup but am not seeing much progress. One of them might stop answering my emails. Another would tell me there's nothing on the table for open jobs so I put him on the backburner for several months before he comes back on the rotation to email him again. \n\nI agree on the WordPress/PHP jobs. I am not really interested in going back to WordPress, having last used it 5 years ago. Right now I'm leaning more towards JavaScript work."
  Self: "Yeah networking is hard and awkward.  I think javascript would be a good move.  It seems like all the frameworks that have popped up over the past few years have pretty strong demand.  \n\nDo you have a GitHub or personal website that you share with the people you network with so that they have an idea of your skill levels?"
  User (failing11swe): "Yeah, I have a GitHub profile, with several projects. I was able to land a short term contract with them, in fact. Here is my profile: https://github.com/ccajas The popular repositories are a good place to start looking."
  