I was laid off during the covid crash, and was devastated. I spent a month recovering from burnout, then got started on making some money of my own with web app

I was laid off during the covid crash, and was devastated. I spent a month recovering from burnout, then got started on making some money of my own with web apps. The apps were simple, but made enough money to pad my savings. They used browser automation to jump in front of shopping queues at popular web stores like sneaker heads or hype beasts shop at, or analyzed rudimentary crypto trends using machine learning. It was fulfilling to work on what truly interested in me, and the meager money gave me time to regain my footing. When it came time to look for new employment, companies were generally impressed with my ability to make money in new and creative ways. My advice now to people struggling to break into the industry is to make some money with programming however they can. Coders who can Leetcode their way out of an algorithm are a dime a dozen. Programmers who are familiar with the infrastructure modern applications need to handle payments, send emails, preserve data in storage, and maintain uptime as a distributed cloud system, are much more valuable. They stand out from the pack because they are capable of the leadership and innovation that companies desperately need.