I was in a similar position to you about a year ago, some old PHP skills and a long break from work. The biggest challenge at this stage is getting out of your

I was in a similar position to you about a year ago, some old PHP skills and a long break from work. The biggest challenge at this stage is getting out of your own way and selling your strengths. I assure you, there are lots of companies right now with a roster of junior developers who are looking for a sage graybeard (if you are nearing 30 that is close enough) on the cheap, so embrace that role and angle yourself for it. Focus on your product and customer expertise and not the tech stack. Find the unsexy companies, plenty still operate remotely. For me, I got a job at an old PHP shop and after 8 mo. upgraded with a big salary boost to a React/Python role, both languages I picked up while job hunting. The biggest challenge for me? Getting comfortable with the GitHub workflow and working on a bigger team was a bigger shift than learning a language, so I would recommend sticking with PHP for now and find a job where you can get comfortable with that side of things first. The monthly HN job thread is a pretty good mix of companies so give that a shot.