First, life is about continuous improvement in relation to yourself, not to anybody else. We all have people who are succeeding more than us, and who are doing

First, life is about continuous improvement in relation to yourself, not to anybody else. We all have people who are succeeding more than us, and who are doing worse than us. The question is, are you content, identifying why or why not, and making adjustments until you are content. Notice I use the word content, not happy, because 100% happiness all the time is not only impossible, but also not healthy. So let's assume that you are not content with your current living situation, and that computing is something you're passionate about. There isn't enough information here to give you anything more than general advice. We'd need to know the details of your resume, including your skill set and work history. Generally the foot in the door is a good resume submitted as much as possible, with cover letters that make you seem interested and passionate. However, you said: "I can't interview well enough to get past that filter" which makes me thing you are getting interviews, but not passing initial phone screenings. This is something that can be fixed, and has no bearing on your intelligence. Rather, you need to commit and train, just like you would if you wanted to get fit. You need to: 1. Figure out which positions you're actually interested in. 2. Break each position down into component skills and requirements. 3. For each skill, determine a path to mastery. 4. Start training each one of those skills, committing time each day proportional to the skills importance in the interview. You should probably be reading at least one or two technical books at all times, and doing some daily coding. You should also start training for the interview itself. Focus on: 1. How you present yourself. Are you relaxed, attentive, groomed, friendly, eager? 2. Giving a good answer to every question, even if the answer is incomplete. Say "I think it works like" or "I could imagine it would work like", don't get angry or frustrated or say "I don't know". 3. Read cracking the coding interview and practice Hackerrank questions or using a similar site. Do this at least for one hour every night. Don't get frustrated and quit. You need to build the muscle. Do all of this until you get the job. There is no timeframe, and don't engage an interview until you feel over-prepared. The key is not intelligence, but commitment and determination.