> I never earned above $120k per year (USD). Even after 10 years and being the top dev in every company I worked at.

If your skills are as strong as you perceive them, then there is at least ONE valid reason you haven't landed a more profitable job, especially if you were applying between 2018-2022. I recommend paying for a reputable third party to review your resume, and your "about me" statement. They don't even need to be trained in cs. You'll also need to do so with an open mind and not be defensive about criticism. Good luck!

Not OP but do you know of any? Several years ago I was considering switching jobs and hired an independent. I could have done much better than the product they eventually gave to me.

I used one who has since retired. She was pricey but worth it. Also she had no programming experience. At first I was in denial of her feedback, but after applying it, saw immediate results.

Anyways unfortunately no, but look on LinkedIn and ask for references.

I did, I got advice from a HR professional, cleaned up my resume, combined my contracting positions into a single 'freelancing' role. Wrote an excellent cover letter, formatted. There's something off about the whole thing. My resume is stellar. Everyone who sees this tells me so. I know founders of companies who exited for millions of dollars and even they can't help me because their acquiring company doesn't let them hire me on a measly contract. People around me, including other developers cannot believe what is happening to me. I feel like I'm being gaslit by everyone. Even some of my family members are turning into conspiracy theorists.

I believe you- I have an elite undergrad degree, a couple years of industry experience and quite a bit of time in grad school/academia and coming out of my PhD I can’t even get an interview - the excuses given are the stupidest ones imaginable. I can only pinpoint it as rank discrimination against the geographical area I’m in at present.

Raise your standards, review your soft skills, review your technical skills, your self-marketing strategy, all of it.

> It's disturbing because while all these people were out partying and having fun, I was teaching myself coding. Now they're all getting paid more than me.

I'm sorry, but this statement is telling. Take some personal responsibility: the job market is much different today, and successfully navigating it without generational wealth takes a set of skills that you must develop.

A sister comment recommended a resume review, but I would suggest going further and looking into mock interview services where you can get honest feedback about your interview skills. I find interview/interpersonal skills to often be the choke point for many individuals who have a hard time navigating the market and don't know why.

I used to fly through the interviews. I ace all the interviews I'm given. Never had issues before. My interview approach didn't change at all, I just know more now. Last time I got to final stage of interviews at a major tech company a few years ago, I aced all the interviews and tech tests but for some reason, apparently at the last minute, the head of engineering didn't show up to the final interview which was supposed to be a 'just a formality'. My problems started happening in 2019, quite suddenly so the contrast was noticeable.

When I talk to recruiters, initially, they sound excited but for some reason ghost me or they invent new job tech requirements which were not listed on the advert (and which are trivial and I could easily catch up on). I've heard stuff like "Although this position is for a Node.js role, the head of engineering is particular and likes candidates who have some past experience with C#..." WTF!!

I think my problems may be related to my involvement in crypto. I tried to actually improve things there. Feels like what happens to heads of state in foreign countries who try to improve their people's lives to the detriment of foreign investors... But weird because I'm literally a nobody! I didn't get much exposure outside of my immediate community.

If the problem is crypto, leave crypto out of the resume and say that you became a monk or took up sailing or volunteered overseas or something during that time and see if it helps.

My advice: if you're not applying for a crypto job, scrub all crypto terms from your resume. Most people aren't going to understand what it is beyond criminal activity (scams, drugs, money laundering), HR might think you're a liability. People who don't assume it's criminal activity will most likely be confused about why you applied to a non-crypto job and find it an irrelevant useless skill they don't want to pay a premium for. In the last year, public opinion on crypto has tanked, so there is incentive to pretend you were actually doing AI or anything else the whole time. Having a hole in your resume is a bad idea though. Most likely you can describe crypto work in non-crypto terms.

You should try telling all of this to a therapist and see what they have to say.

I forgot to mention that, at one point, my boss, who now controls almost 100 million dollars of crypto threatened to hire people sabotage my open source project. I thought he was joking at the time but now I'm not so sure.

The therapist would think I'm being reasonable if they heard the full story. My ex-colleagues would back me up on that.

I think it's still worth exploring your options and taking some mock interviews, just so that you have some data to calibrate on.

> I think my problems may be related to my involvement in crypto. I tried to actually improve things there. Feels like what happens to heads of state in foreign countries...

To be completely frank, this sounds like a paranoid delusion. But, I don't know you and I keep out of cryptocurrency drama, so I'll withhold judgement. Have you looked into work outside of that niche?

I worked directly in crypto for several years and still interface with crypto projects and that has never affected my employment as far as I'm aware. I doubt it's the reason for OP's struggles.

Make sure you’re using an objective lens. I don’t know you, but I do know my co-workers. One of my co-workers in particular talks a very big game. According to him he’s the best coder in the company, and at every company he’s ever worked at, but his soft skills and social skills are so bad that no one wants to work with him. I also don’t think he’s as good as he claims… he only seems to know 1 language and refuses to improve shortcomings of his code, always pointing the finger at others.

I’m not saying this you, it’s just an example from my life. If your experience is in sharp contrast to how you see yourself, it’s worth taking a look at how others might see you.

If you are low balling yourself on salary in a cheaper cost of living area you can't compare yourself against someone in San Francisco who is good at negotiating and bragging about it online.