Throwaway to prevent breaking the rules.Very unusual story but I left my first developer job 2 years after college to try to start a business in an unrelated field. The business is alive, but not doing well and I'm tired out and need to return to the work force.I've been job hunting for a remote developer role for about 5 months now and have been getting rejection after rejection. HR / recruiting always thinks I don't have enough experience (even for entry level) but whenever the interview involves another technical person they usually see the potential in me.I have a portfolio, I have my own website, I love doing side projects (web apps + apis). I can easily spend 15 - 30 hours a week on them and have worked on them for over 4 years now. I even have a bachelors in CS for whatever that's worth.I write cover letters. I put a lot of effort into improving them based on feedback / what lands a interview. I basically conduct AB testing. I've tweaked my resume many a times.I've tried startups thinking the business experience would help.I've tried medium - large companies thinking they'd be more open to mentoring new-ish devs.I don't have much of a network to connect with, and I come from a rural state with little tech.I'm not expecting the world and would be perfectly happy with a junior role.Has anyone else been in similar shoes, and if so how did you escape it?