1. There's lots of good advice here. Don't try to do all of it simultaneously; pick one or two things and really commit to them, and then review how well you're

1. There's lots of good advice here. Don't try to do all of it simultaneously; pick one or two things and really commit to them, and then review how well you're doing in those areas once a week. You'll have weeks of no progress, everyone does, but if you keep focusing on 1-2 areas until you're happy with that result, almost anything can get improved over 3-6 months. Sometimes shorter, but ready yourself for more and pace yourself accordingly. 2. Start trying to meet more people and make more connections Friends, acquaintances, professional colleagues. Go to where people doing the type of statistics/marketing you're doing hang out, and get to know them. In-person is better than online, but if you're not near a major metropolitan area, online would be okay too. You could, for instance, find some discussion forum devoted to marketing/statistics, and learn, post there, follow up, etc. It doesn't have to be purely professional related, but if there's overlap between the work you want to do and the type of people you're meeting, you'll have more job offers. There's a number of studies showing that the vast majority of hires made aren't from applying blindly by sending in resumes, but based on recommendations and personal relationships. So -- get to know more people. It'll probably also help with your self-esteem. I'd also recommend never calling yourself "broken goods" or similar again: the world's got enough antagonism in it without you getting on your own case. But yeah, your main goal is get employed? Start meeting people, getting to know them, and showing your competence in the areas you'd like to be employed.