I was working on a contract that was coming to a close, but I had a great rapport with the team and we had been talking about the next project for months with v

I was working on a contract that was coming to a close, but I had a great rapport with the team and we had been talking about the next project for months with very clear and open dialogue about me sticking sound for it. Suddenly, there was no money for the next project. I wasn’t renewed and quite a few people on the team were laid off. It was a bit of a shock. I suppose it was foolish but I didn’t look for new work for a long time before the contract was ending, so I was completely caught off guard. It has been very strange. I’ve never had a hard time finding work in my 12 years in tech. I’d only ever taken a while to find it due to being selective. I took time off to take care of my youngest son once, took 6 months or so to redirect learning towards embedded software and robotics “just because”, and always got right back to the whole full stack thing when I was ready. I’ve applied to perhaps 30 positions and heard virtually nothing back. Had some great interviews that went cold. I have a feeling my resume is awful and I simply never needed to know that. I’m optimistic though. I’ve always found myself in key roles on teams and provided critical work and guidance, so I know I’m not just some fortunate auxiliary person who happened to make it this far by luck or coincidence alone. With enough perseverance and humility I know I’ll find something. I know all of you who are looking are having a rough time. All I can say is that things will always get harder, but they’ll get better too. After this, some time down the road, there’ll be something else to deal with too. You’ll figure that out just the same as you’ll figure this out. I suppose what matters isn’t what happens or why, but how you respond and move through it. One silver lining is that I’ve been having a ton of fun learning more about things I’ve been curious about and generally furthering my career during downtime in ways I normally don’t get to. It might not seem meaningful or important at the moment, but it always pays off eventually. Plus learning is just fun, and fun is worthwhile. Especially when times are tough! Good luck, everyone.