>In your case, "used to be a software engineer" is already going to put you at a massive disadvantage relative to all of the experienced engineers who were rece

>In your case, "used to be a software engineer" is already going to put you at a massive disadvantage relative to all of the experienced engineers who were recently forced into the job market by layoffs. No doubt. Luckily, I did actually do some job searching for dev jobs from March - May this year, and I did get interviews, etc., so hopefully the situation for me isn't that dire so long as I can perform. Whether my doing a startup while employed at my last job is seen as a negative is going to be really up to them, but all I can do is assure them I am not continuing. Luckily, this has made me a competent dev again. The honest truth is I would feel pretty happy to be free of both the biglaw job and the startup (I believe in the idea, but it's difficult, especially with another full-time job, Jesus it's getting unsustainable), and would love to just focus on being a software engineer again, and would have a level of gratitude for the job that would outstrip most other candidates. But they have nothing to go off of as to all that aside from my word.