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throwaway_374on Ask HN: Dealing with depression and unemployment: what should I do?

First of all as I'm going through the same thing (extended unemployment) I just wanted to say I can relate to everything you're going through. That anxiety after the interview, the sleepless nights after, the lows when you hit a rejection and the anger... and somehow your body just knows it's gone through trauma even though you try to mentally stay positive. You will get better at handling this rollercoaster of ups and downs after a few times.

The most important thing is to keep your physical and mental health in check. You are basically in survival mode and NEED to keep these in top form. Take vitamins, sleep well, try to run and exercise a few times a week - I find it kills the anxiety.

In terms of practical advice, you do have a valuable internship which is really good. Obvious question, but have you tried possibly getting in touch with your old team to see if they need someone? It's a huge company so they may be some opportunities. C++ development is seen as quite elitist, niche and scientific and my experience is they generally hesitate to take on people without degrees. Even fresh undergrads can be seen to be inexperienced and destructive to a codebase as it is complicated language as I'm sure you know.

If you really want to stick the path with C++ I'd say try to watch conference videos (cppcon) on YouTube to show your passion and enthusiasm and mention you're keeping up with industry trends. Separately, I would consider strongly looking at the demand in your area and tailoring your skills accordingly - pick up web based technologies. These are much easier for a C++ dev.

Lastly, I would not disregard other jobs around development (sys admin, app support, SRE) and then tailor your portfolio part time trying to break back into development, though going down this career track will mean you will need to be a lot more proactive in constantly switching roles to climb the ladder and possibly have to move to a bigger city. Though I agree with other comments regarding the opportunity cost of your degree at present - coupled with your internship it would be worth completing I feel. All the very best.