
Ask HN: Looking for a helping hand - throwaway5687
Hey, I really need some help.  I should have asked sooner, but sometimes the first steps are the hardest.<p>A few years ago - as my partner&#x27;s parents are aging - I made the decision to emigrate to my partner&#x27;s homeland and setup a business with my partner.  As so often happens, businesses don&#x27;t always work out, and after a while the business failed.  In short succession some of my close family members died, and all this resulted in me suffering from Alopecia universalis eventually leading to me becoming an almost complete recluse.<p>Time has started to heal these wounds, but the a lack of any network and <i>some</i> language barriers, starting again has been tough (I&#x27;m unable to work related to my studies in this second language).  The only respite in all this is that learning to code has allowed me to feel some self worth, confidence, and a pathway to becoming a productive member of society again.<p>Starting again means I have a worthless C.V., a large period of unemployment, and next to no experience to show off my skills.  I have learnt Ruby and Rails, with some side helpings of related techs (JS, React, HTML, CSS, SQL, PLPGSQL, Git, APIs, etc.),  but I now feel as though after dipping my toes into Elm, Elixir, Phoenix, Prolog, etc, that learning new things will not magically get me work<p>I have tried job boards, freelancer portals, contributing to open source, and bug hunting, but I can&#x27;t get my foot in the door when it comes to work that will help me build up my C.V. so I can help provide for those that I care for rather than continuing to be dependent.<p><i>The part where I need your help</i><p>I am looking for any work that you think I could be suitable for, long or short term (I&#x27;m in the E.U. but willing to be available in any timezone), the only caveat is that I will need to work remotely.<p>I have kept this anonymous as I would like to keep my professional an private life separate, but I will be happy to supply any further info as needed. 
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lixtra
* Make your stuff visible on github.  If I read an application with a github link I always check there.  If it looks good you will get invited. 

* Do voluntary tech work for your local (church/religious) community.  This will give you connections that eventually lead to gigs or employment. 

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throwaway5687
Do you have an email to which I can send my github profile? 

Thanks for reading and taking the time to provide some advice. 

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throwaway5687
I've posted my info on
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17902903](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17902903)
(Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? ( September 2018)) to try to aid my search.