MONSTER POST WARNING!!!

I'm a full stacker too, so I sort of know what you're going through.

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> but the response has always boiled down to "we don't think you have the relevant experience"

This has been my experience but as a guy one year out of school. And I live in the Seattle area, so you would think that I should have ample opportunities.

In my extremely limited experience, "relevant experience" can literally mean anything in this context. It might be true that they were looking for other technical knowledge. It could also mean that they were looking for another trait and wanted to let you down on a more neutral note. Basically, it's an HR term meant to avoid opening a can of worms on both sides.

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>figuring I don't have the strongest resume

You have five years of full stack work. That's an incredibly strong background.

What languages did you write in? Platforms/programs/operating systems? What software patterns did you use?

Since you worked on a very broad area of software development, your resume is fine as long as you fine tune it a bit more to emphasize your knowledge on certain languages and frameworks, as well as the fact that you should have a good idea on how a software project evolves over time.

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> Do I work on brushing up my algorithms and data structures knowledge in a lower-level language (and blog about it)?

You could try that. But that still doesn't guarantee that you'll get an interview. You could literally do this for a full year and still not get a code screen because someone will ask you "why did you only study this stuff for a year? where are your projects/work experience/meetup talks/OSS contributions/the holy grail/etc etc etc?!!!"

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> Or do I spend time on MOOCs (and blog)?

Since you say you've graduated, I'm assuming you have a formal college degree. A MOOC would be a waste of cash at this point. You have the experience and education already. You don't need another diploma just to satisfy some HR drone.

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> Or build a ridiculously over-engineered side project with distributed micro-services just to prove I can do it (and blog)?

Again, this is something that might get you in the door. It might not. Either way, I wouldn't recommend trying to write anything too specific. As the old saying goes, don't put all of your eggs in one basket.

And, once again, even if you're successful in building it, whoever replies to your application could still give you the "we don't think you have the relevant experience" jargon for literally any reason they feel like.

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> move to a more opportunities-rich location, networking on the ground?

Only move once you have another job lined up. All those stories we hear of people moving for work reek of Survival Bias. We don't know how much they saved prior, if they had family/friends in the new location that could help them out, if they borrowed money, if they had their parents pay for it, etc. Moving anywhere is a huge time and money cost, so only do it if you have the cash and resources to do it. Reliable housing comes first, networking second.

But, then again, I do not know where you live.

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> TL;DR

Basically, my big points are

1. Don't do a MOOC if you already have any sort of professional programming experience (especially full stack). You already have the tools and knowledge necessary to learn almost anything related to modern programming on your own.

2. Don't move just to network. Networking won't necessarily get you a job, let alone an interview.

3. Don't read too far into those "I did it, so can you" articles. They're full of Survival Bias.

4. Companies can reject your application for any reason they feel like and get away with it by telling you something purposefully broad like "we don't think you have the relevant experience". It's total BS, but it's next to impossible to challenge it from outside the company.

5. It might be time to consider starting something new if it doesn't already exist in your town. If you know 3-5 people that have good business skills, you might want to consider talking to them.

6. There are a lot of over achievers in tech right now. Looking at them as you are right now can lead to phycological problems. You might want to consider talking to your doctor and/or a psychologist.

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If you have any further questions or just want to talk/vent, feel free to give me a buzz at steven@stevenbock.me.