Ralf Lenz, BOFH Emeritus 🏴‍☠️Feb 2, 2024

I gave #linkedin an honest try, for a year or more, in terms of finding #work. It's a cesspool of #toxicpositivity and fake job postings.

Now I'm asking, with all urgency -- to anyone who has anything #tech to offer, please consider a guy who has:

- 30 yrs of exp
- out of work 20 mo
- 3 kids, one approaching her 1st birthday
- a track record for secure systems
- a month before eviction
- low salary reqs

CV: https://jrlenz.com/files/cv-2023-12.pdf

US citizen | PH resident

#GetFediHired #Remote

Show threadBonkersFeb 2, 2024
@ralf man, you ought to start freelancing, even that you're opposing the idea, as I can see in the comments. There are many companies which need engineers for a particular project for a limited term, and it's too expensive for them to hire you on a salary. But if you have 5-10 good clients, you'll never be idling, as they will keep throwing work at you. I'm doing that for 15+ years in approximately the same field.
Show threadRalf Lenz, BOFH Emeritus 🏴‍☠️Feb 2, 2024
@bonkers i do some freelance work, but i'm not interested in doing the marketing/interpersonal networking stuff (while I can, I hate it quite passionately).
Show threadBonkers

@ralf I don't do any marketing for myself. I just tell my customers that I have some time for a new project and they throw more work at me :)

But it requires some networking, of course. What helps is helping people in public forums, publishing guides, sharing code on GitHub.

Feb 2, 2024 at 7:30amWeb
Show threadRalf Lenz, BOFH Emeritus 🏴‍☠️Feb 2, 2024

@bonkers That's the issue -- at 20 months of unemployment, my savings are depleted and I can not afford to spend time on tasks that "might pay later."

I need to spend time on tasks that pay *right now*.

Even if it's just asking people for 20 bucks so I can buy food for the kids.

Show threadBonkersFeb 2, 2024
@ralf look at freelancer sites like Upwork. Do you speak German? There's freelancermap.de and Gulp, sometimes they have remote jobs, but rarely.
Show threadRalf Lenz, BOFH Emeritus 🏴‍☠️Feb 2, 2024
@bonkers despite my german name, my family emigrated in the 1830s so I just know a few German swear words from the 6 months i spent in Zurich.
Show threadRalf Lenz, BOFH Emeritus 🏴‍☠️Feb 2, 2024
@bonkers I've done upwork, but it's low rate of return given my location (Philippines), despite being a US citizen and expat.
Show threadBonkersFeb 2, 2024
@ralf well, you need to spend a few days selling yourself, there's no way around it.
Show threadRalf Lenz, BOFH Emeritus 🏴‍☠️Feb 2, 2024

@bonkers

Some people are better suited to entrepreneurial ventures in person rather than online.

If I have to work online in tech, I'd rather work for someone else.