[worker767424]

Genuinely curious, I don't mean to be insulting, and a hiring manager will be asking the same question: you've been playing with tech for a long time and sound like you're interested enough to be competent. How is it that your work experience is generic, unskilled jobs? I realize it's a poor region, but it's still the US (no visa issues), remote wasn't unheard of pre-covid, and even poor regions often have something halfway resembling a a DBA or sysadmin within an hour radius.

[mrzool]

Finding the first job in tech, when you don’t have any previous experience to show, is not easy. I was in the same boat for a long time. I assume what OP is trying to do is to find an entry-level job with the intention to move up from there.

Also, when you’re broke, you often don’t have time to look for a good position, because you need money right now, so you take up whatever job is on offer, which leaves you with no time/energy to look for something better, and you can’t take the risk to just quit and follow your dreams because you don’t have any safety net. You can easily spend years this way.

Of course, all this would not sound great in a job interview. That’s why, when I interview people, I tend to focus more on the attitude, personality, and actual skills of a person, and avoid asking questions about past odd jobs, prolonged unemployment periods, and the like.

We all need to start somewhere. OP just happens to be starting now.

Good luck, OP.