I've been a contractor since 2014 (and started work in 2002) so have to apply for new jobs every 3 to 6 months. A trend I've spotted is that companies sometimes start hiring in the new financial year, so I'm crossing fingers that you'll see some movement in April.

I saw this earlier this week: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7174198... The sad state of affairs is that folks are now taking a shotgun approach using scripts, and completely overwhelming recruiters and hiring managers. Sure, they have ATSs in place that does the filtering, but once a job is posted, they almost instantaneously get 50+ CVs and chances are they find a good few matches they can bubble up the chain, then forget about the rest (i.e. you and me, who lovingly hand-craft cover letters, and then become applicant number 404) I mean, how often have you heard "sorry, this role's been filled now", when they do bother to reply.

During the quiet times, I continue working on my side projects. Search the web for "indie hackers". I'm slowly but surely working on a few things which will generate enough MRR to sustain me. There's nothing worse (as you now know) than walking into the desert, and your only flask of water is slowly depleting. I used to have a desktop wallpaper showing a digital nomad working on the beach, as an aspiration to what to work towards (kids and family life has since happened), but a more powerful motivation is avoiding poverty and being in control of your time. Contracting only earns when you work. Product can earn while you sleep.

(Another thing I saw earlier this week was a video on YT about this school teacher who now makes £50 PER DAY in dividend income, after starting investing into dividend-yielding stocks since 2009. Similar vibe, I guess. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2m5x-vGqcE)

So, those are the 3 take-aways:

- April might be better

- maybe start using tools for your job search

- during the good times, maybe look into working on a product in your spare time

Best of luck!