Title: Hello,<p>4 years ago I felt burnt out and decided to take a short break in order to reassess my career. I simply hadn&#x27;t realised how much my health had deteriorated and that led to what ballooned into a 4 year long convalescence. I finally feel physically capable of returning to work but worry that I&#x27;m no longer competent enough, not even in the kind of roles I used to work at (primarily web-related backend along with some system and network administration).<p>A few questions I have are:<p>1. What should I do to get to a point where I feel confident enough to actually send in applications? (I have never really been any good at LeetCode-type problems and have no personal projects to speak of.)<p>2. Will the 4-year gap and my choppy CV be a major hindrance to my hirability? (My employement history consists of 2 years at a consulting firm and 3 short startup stints of &lt;1 year each.) If yes, how do I minimise its debilitating effects?<p>3. I feel like I have the best chance of getting hired in the kind of roles I used to work at and those are the ones I&#x27;m interested in as well but in doing so am I restricting myself to a limited number of positions? Should I be spending my time in expanding my knowledge areas? (Although I feel like I know too little of anything else to ever feel confident enough to apply for an actual paid position in those roles.)<p>4. Is my timing bad? Is the current climate not well suited for someone like me to get back into the industry (though I have a feeling that no climate would be conducive to someone in my position.)<p>To add: I am in my early 30&#x27;s and have an undergraduate degree. Financially, I have a comfortable 1 year runway or a 1.5 year runway at a pinch. So I can&#x27;t afford to go back to school; a bootcamp I could attend (as long as it&#x27;s remote) but I&#x27;m not really sure how good they usually are.<p>Many thanks to anyone who takes the time to respond.
Upvote: