shruubi: If you want to share some more about the kind of development work you have been doing, and what you&#x27;d like to be doing, perhaps we can give you some concrete ideas for locations, companies, OSS projects, etc. that you should check out.<p>A few observations from my career so far (20 years in):<p>* Going for a Master&#x27;s degree in CS can seriously improve your job prospects, and should make you a genuinely more awesome developer.  (I&#x27;m not saying it&#x27;s a necessary or sufficient requirement for awesomeness, but it&#x27;s usually very beneficial.)  Continuing on to a PhD in CS?  Not so much :)<p>* Getting a Master&#x27;s degree at a <i>good</i> CS university is an awesome path towards very cool jobs.  The way I&#x27;ve seen that work is that those departments have CS professors who often look to commercialize their ideas (at least that&#x27;s what I&#x27;ve seen with database research), and they try to recruit their more promising Master&#x27;s &#x2F; PhD students, especially if they were already working on the academic version of the project.<p>* I work remotely doing mainly C++ development, but I&#x27;ve found remote, well-paying C++ jobs are somewhat rare.  But if you can build up some interest and skills in web development, it shouldn&#x27;t be difficult to find a fully remote job that pays way, way more than a supermarket job would.<p>* This one is slightly depressing, but I&#x27;d be remiss to not mention it.  You need to consider the ticking clock.  As you get older you&#x27;ll find it takes more time and effort to develop expertise in new languages, frameworks, etc.  And doubly so if you meet the right special someone and have a family.  So if you&#x27;re looking to better situate yourself for work that&#x27;s more interesting and&#x2F;or pays better, you should get moving on that plan ASAP.<p>* +1 on what everyone said about OSS involvement.  ESPECIALLY if for whatever reason you&#x27;re unable to leave your current job and location.