Thanks for the kinds words, but just an example here. 125k per year is decent good money in the big picture of things, no doubt about it. Technology is a crazy world, companies are valued at 10 billion and all the founders make out with a few billion each all the time. At the same time though, the company hasn't sold one product or service, just has the "potential", either users, or information (analytical data to be sold).

Link removed because of post count, "java spring mvc jobs" was the example I was using here, Triad Group was the company.

Here is a recruitment company. This is 80-85 an hour, they are most likely charging 150 an hour. You can up that to 100 most likely, possibly 110. Now this is w2 so might be a little more tough. Call the recruiter, express great interest, do research on him first. If he's from Brazil keep that in mind. If he likes hershey chocolate bars, keep that in mind. Then they will present you to the company, the companies usually will take leads from recruitment firms faster than they will internal H&R, even though they say they won't.

If you find out the company(which many recruitment firms keep under wraps actually), you call that same H&R department do the same thing. Then call the person who is a manger of the department you are getting into, do the same thing. Now you got three people who know who you are in this case. Have a great phone interview & in person. By the end of that if everything goes well, you can make a 65 percent assumption that you have the job.

Hence why I said, I cheat? I mean maybe this isn't "cheating" but its not apply with H&R and get put into a pool of people and they pick the most qualified from a list of resumes. I wouldn't last 5 minutes in that, there is just too many people with degrees. Now maybe there could be alot without too, I don't know, but I never even tried this route. Also asking about salary information before the end of the interview always helps, or when they offer you a salary, ask them if it's any more flexible, this automatically makes them think you are very qualified.

Of course this has all been learned from years in this industry, but sometimes I just want to be "normal". Be able to put my resume in a pile of others, and maybe have someone say "this looks good". I just feel the lack of an education section, puts me at a serious disadvantage in that situation.

Maybe I just know how to work the system to better my odds, I dont know. In all my years of schooling I can honestly say one thing, I never did cheat, not even once. I remember kids were passing around cheat sheets for a test, it came to me, I just passed it on, as I just thought it was "wrong". I think the class was spanish if I recall ,but regardless, I never cheated.

My salary doesn't equate with being successful. As stupid as that sounds, I just still feel so empty.

A therapist would really help.