Max I know how you feel. I'm 47 and I can't get a full-time job doing something interesting that fulfills me. And I've been trying for years with no luck. Everytime I find a job listed online that I believe fits my background, I will apply. But I never get contacted for an interview. It's confounding. I feel hopeless and fearful at the same time. My life is in limbo while I waste it working jobs to make ends meet that don't give me any joy, or enough to set aside in a savings account. So I know how you feel. Believe me. It stinks to high heaven to be stuck in a job rut. And the fact that you still didn't get the job after a blood relative of the company owner vouched for you is terrible. I'm sorry that happened to you.

I have friends in other states who tell me to move. They may be well intentioned, but none of them actually offer to help me find a job in their state. One friend even suggested that i move to another country where she has relatives I could live with. Um, who is going to buy my plane ticket, and give me a year's worth of money to survive on?

If you really have a lot of money saved in a 401K, then why not move to Mexico or somewhere else, where you know people? Or, use your 401K to live off of right where you are, while you take a break from job-searching and do creative things to help you reset.

Ever read that book, "What Color is your parachute?" Books like that are designed to help us narrow our focus to the kind of job or career field we should pursue.