I feel for you, I really do. I've also had a string of "crap" jobs where I felt I was not doing anything of value. Remember, you should always be looking. If y

I feel for you, I really do. I've also had a string of "crap" jobs where I felt I was not doing anything of value. Remember, you should always be looking. If you have time, do some small bit of pro-bono work for someone, perhaps a non-profit. Add them to your CV. Solve an interesing problem for them. Look at companies you admire in your area, see what interests you, and come up with a way to solve a problem they are working on. Present this to a manager over lunch. Tell them you fancy working for them and you can bring some skills to the table. Like Yoda said, there is no try, there is do or do not. FYI, I switched over to working for non-profits, and while the money isn't as much, the jobs are more interesting to me and I have generally much more latitude to implement what I think will work (for me, always OSS/Libre). It's a good feeling to know you are making a difference.