I've read all the comments in this thread and I will be frank with you.
You are arrogant and entitled. You are not as great as you think you are. If you were, you would have what you want. But you don't. And even if you were great, you (or anyone for that matter) shouldn't be arrogant or entitled. It's a terrible way to live. Insulting those who are trying to help you by calling their advice "boomer cope" is beyond asinine and just the topping on the cake.
Your problem is that you think you deserve something. You don't. In the strictest sense what you "deserve" is exactly what you have right now, which is nothing. "Deserve" is meaningless word anyway. As if there is some universal objective truth about what the state of your life "should" be.
If you want to get out of this rut, humble yourself, get whatever software job you can get (assuming you want to stay in this industry), and slowly work your way up over the coming decades. That's reality.
It's also clear that you have no true sense of ownership or responsibility. You have a victim mindset. It oozes out of everything you say. Some examples:
Q: "Why can you not pass tech screens? You mean leetcode questions?"
> I don't really know, none of this was a problem when I got my last job in tech (as a non-founder).
Who cares what the state of the world was when you got your last job? Clearly you're not cutting it today. Does living in the glory days of your past put food on your table now?
> My best guess is they thought my skills weren't advanced enough for my age or found it weird I was bald.
No hiring manager cares that you're bald. That's just you blaming them for your lack of skills.
> I'm legitimately going to just move to another country if one more boomer tells me I just have to "wait for the stars to align" one more time.
You won't have to wait until another "boomer" tells you that (how do you even know who is a boomer, and why does it matter if they are?). Your current crappy attitude will all but ensure you will fail and be forced into such a situation.
All that aside, I hope you fix your attitude and improve your life. Good luck.
I agree with the parent's main point, but I'd like to soften it a little:
Many of us have learned humility the hard way. It's a painful process. But if you take the right lessons from it, then in retrospect you'll be glad for the personal growth.
Agree with this though it's brutal. Op needs to look inward.
But I will add that there are external factors as well.
The last 10-15 years in this industry have been an absolute cakewalk. I came to this conclusion even as a junior engineer who entered the workforce around 2015. I remember getting my entry level salary and thinking there's no way this goes on forever. Everyone was hiring people that can't do basic shit and giving them six figure salaries. When the gravy train is rolling it's really hard to not get complacent. I think we all did a little bit, and now the gravy train is over. This is how every other industry is. You don't get paid much for middling skills, job searches take a while, etc. This is how it's going to be.
Just like all the others, this'll be a k shaped recession.
You are arrogant and entitled. You are not as great as you think you are. If you were, you would have what you want. But you don't. And even if you were great, you (or anyone for that matter) shouldn't be arrogant or entitled. It's a terrible way to live. Insulting those who are trying to help you by calling their advice "boomer cope" is beyond asinine and just the topping on the cake.
Your problem is that you think you deserve something. You don't. In the strictest sense what you "deserve" is exactly what you have right now, which is nothing. "Deserve" is meaningless word anyway. As if there is some universal objective truth about what the state of your life "should" be.
If you want to get out of this rut, humble yourself, get whatever software job you can get (assuming you want to stay in this industry), and slowly work your way up over the coming decades. That's reality.
It's also clear that you have no true sense of ownership or responsibility. You have a victim mindset. It oozes out of everything you say. Some examples:
Q: "Why can you not pass tech screens? You mean leetcode questions?"
> I don't really know, none of this was a problem when I got my last job in tech (as a non-founder).
Who cares what the state of the world was when you got your last job? Clearly you're not cutting it today. Does living in the glory days of your past put food on your table now?
> My best guess is they thought my skills weren't advanced enough for my age or found it weird I was bald.
No hiring manager cares that you're bald. That's just you blaming them for your lack of skills.
> I'm legitimately going to just move to another country if one more boomer tells me I just have to "wait for the stars to align" one more time.
You won't have to wait until another "boomer" tells you that (how do you even know who is a boomer, and why does it matter if they are?). Your current crappy attitude will all but ensure you will fail and be forced into such a situation.
All that aside, I hope you fix your attitude and improve your life. Good luck.