lots of great advice in this thread.

a few notes:

1. due to my role (security analyst) its hard showcasing my credentials for what i actually do. ive been interviewing for 1 position but it is a challenge getting noticed for more engineering / automation based roles.

2. i have the savings to last 2 years in most major metro's.

3. my partner is a state away so my on-site positions are highly limited, which has reduced my search

my main focus is just crunching out a portfolio showcasing tools I can build from scratch since I can't provide anything I built internally.