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Noone has "taken a chance on me". I've had plenty of interviews, applications, resumes: you name it. Even went through the unemployment interview and resume courses. No real reason why. I can't even get a helpdesk position.

I've went back to school. I hope something pans out soon.

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I had the same thing happen in the city I was in, no one was hiring programmers straight out of school, I got two phone interviews and that was it. Ended up losing a bet with my wife (That I could find a job in 3 months) and moving to Austria. Learned enough German to get a job (took about 5 months) and then found out they were desperate for software people here. I got two job offers in my first week of applying, I accepted one and have been with my firm for a year and a half now.

Out of interest, what is the attitude in Austria (and Germany) towards hiring programmers without degrees?

My colleague doesn't have a degree, the programmer I replaced also didn't have a degree. On the other side Austrian and German people see degrees as a rank and social status which means you will be generally respected more if you have a degree. Your starting salary will usually be higher as well if you have a degree.

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