[malwrar]

>> Will the 4-year gap and my choppy CV be a major hindrance to my hirability?

>Yes.

Ultimately, your 4 years of not working turns into a maybe 4 minute story you’ll need to tell a few times when people ask about your gap during interviews. I’d probably ask about it if I was interviewing you OP because I’d worry we’d hire you on and find out you were still burnt or that I’d be effectively gambling about your productivity. Doing some open source work or even personal projects using relevant technology (check job descriptions for what people are looking for) and talking to me about it would assuage me, and boom 4 minutes later your gap is no longer a problem when I give my feedback.