[tfg4k]

Thanks much. The 'bluffing' was how I got the tool-belt. Again, my apologies for such a sloppy first post. LinkedIn, while up to date, has never done anything for me but spam me about things like endorsements and birthdays.

Well, and get my contact info into the hands of every spambot posing as a headhunter on the planet. It's there though. Former coworkers are hard to track down but all have written recommendations for me in the past. Some are on the LinkedIn page. I have no project portfolio. I don't really know how to put one together.

I like asking random people on the internet because my former managers and co-workers can't figure out why I have been unemployed for so long either.

[rifung]

Have you tried applying on AngelList? I'm just asking because I just got an offer yesterday (yay!) for a full stack position even though I had no prior experience in either back or front end.

I recommend you try to apply to start ups because usually you'll have an easier time if you have the smarts but not the skills. Also I don't think you mentioned whether you were getting interviews or not, but if you are then I really recommend improving on the areas that you don't do well on.

Finally, while I also feel like I don't get much from LinkedIn, I also noticed that when I apply to a company they often check my LinkedIn profile, so I would suggest you put any work you need into it.

And of course.. do some cool projects that you can show other people! I remember reading a post on here from a week or two ago about how there are no good web fuzzing tools? To be honest I'm not really in the know about security but try and see if there's something that would be useful to make, simplifying as necessary so that you can start it on your own.

[lhl]

Hmm, but none of the former managers or co-workers have managed to recommend positions or leads to you?

In anycase, I suggest you pick a specialty, whether it's infosec or something else, and make sure you are participating in the proper communities online - Twitter, mailing lists, meetups, etc and actually get really good at something.

From your response to mattmurdog, it sounds like you are defining talent differently from how I think most of the people here would - where talent == actual, not potentially acquired skills/experience.

There are a near infinite number of bugs, RFEs, unsolved problems, and projects to be done (just scan the articles that show up on HN every day). Publicly demonstrate the ability to fix some of those (like actually upstream some patches, release some projects), and honestly, you shouldn't have any problem getting a contract or any other kind of gig. Real (demonstrably productive) talent in tech is always in short supply.

[tfg4k]

A hiring manager from a job I had for a year in Tampa back in 2005 got me my last two interviews. So, I have been attempting to tap my rather small network, It isn't that large though.