A couple of months ago I was there: a failed project, no job, no money flowing in by almost 5 months, and albeit of being moderately competent by several measur

A couple of months ago I was there: a failed project, no job, no money flowing in by almost 5 months, and albeit of being moderately competent by several measures, I was struggling too as you say. My view of the world has changed a lot because of that period, but the things just are in that way. I still strongly believe that you must find your way up in the ladder, but things are not easy. In the meanwhile I did my best to try alternative strategies. At the end, thanks to God I was able to find a great job at a German company which happened to have a research center in my country, and the things are recovering. I saw the tip of the iceberg, and it was scary.