Not the OP, but I've reached a similar place to the OP (I've given up looking for paid software engineering work for now). Why not get better at whiteboarding? Because it's only useful for getting a job in certain types of companies. It's not a useful skill in doing the job. People spend hundreds of hours practicing to answer whiteboard interview questions - more power to them if they actually need the gig really bad. I just don't want to play the game anymore. Fortunately, there are companies (usually small ones) that aren't obsessed with whiteboarding - my last few gigs have been at places like that. Usually the hiring folks are older (as am I) and they remember what hiring and interviewing were like 20+ years ago.