You need to read books about careers. Its not only about IT, the following method applies everywhere: From what I've read I can tell that the way employers look

You need to read books about careers. Its not only about IT, the following method applies everywhere: From what I've read I can tell that the way employers look for employees is not the same way employees look for work. The number one venue for employers to get new employees, is through referrals of existing employees. If you've ever applied for a job, and there was a questionnaire asking if you know someone who already works for that company, that's how they give more credit to those. The jobs that are published and you read are for the hardest to find roles. Most good jobs don't even get published. Better than study books, study people. I think sometimes programmers have a hard time to understand "how people work" and wrongly assume that "people work the same way as computers work". You'd be fooled. Read history, read about betrayals, read about market inefficiencies, read about international politics, you'll get it.