I obtained a diploma in software development about 5 years ago, after a life-threatening accident at work. It wasn't something I loved, but I thought it would offer me some better career prospects. Besides, computers are everywhere, right?

Wrong.


After 5 years, almost $20,000 in tuition, hundreds of dollars in career coaching, unpaid internships to acquire 'experience', countless resume updates and interview preparations, nothing has worked. No employer will hire me as a software developer, technical support, really nothing at all.


And being 'self-employed' as a website designer is stupid. Unless you are a major corporation with specific website needs, it makes absolutely zero sense to hire an individual to make you a website from scratch. For $10/ month, anyone can have a beautiful website online almost instantly, with e-commerce features and almost everything a small business or individual would want, with 24/7 technical support to boot. That's what I have done with my own website. Why spend weeks doing something that can be accomplished so cheaply and so quickly?


I doubt I even have the skills to do that kind of development anymore. Working 130 hours a week doing manual labour hasn't really left me much opportunity to practice or upgrade my skills for the last 5 years.


To make ends meet I've done everything from cleaning portable toilets (the taste of raw human sewage is not one I will forget), to long-haul truck driving, the same job that almost killed me before I went back to college.


I know I'll never have a job I like, much less love. What I am struggling with now is how to accept this and the thought of living like this, doing these sometimes quite literally crappy jobs, the rest of my life.