[marto1]

> working hard, not very successfully, for several years to make a passion into my career

But did you learn anything ? If yes, I'd think of it as a very expensive education.

[cehrlich]

In terms of quantifiable skills that your typical recruiter will be interested in, not much. In terms of everything else, absolutely. I also had much more fun in my 20s this way than I probably would have had otherwise, at the expense of entering my 30s broke.