Send to HN

Hello,

4 years ago I felt burnt out and decided to take a short break in order to reassess my career. I simply hadn't realised how much my health had deteriorated and that led to what ballooned into a 4 year long convalescence. I finally feel physically capable of returning to work but worry that I'm no longer competent enough, not even in the kind of roles I used to work at (primarily web-related backend along with some system and network administration).

A few questions I have are:

1. What should I do to get to a point where I feel confident enough to actually send in applications? (I have never really been any good at LeetCode-type problems and have no personal projects to speak of.)

2. Will the 4-year gap and my choppy CV be a major hindrance to my hirability? (My employement history consists of 2 years at a consulting firm and 3 short startup stints of <1 year each.) If yes, how do I minimise its debilitating effects?

3. I feel like I have the best chance of getting hired in the kind of roles I used to work at and those are the ones I'm interested in as well but in doing so am I restricting myself to a limited number of positions? Should I be spending my time in expanding my knowledge areas? (Although I feel like I know too little of anything else to ever feel confident enough to apply for an actual paid position in those roles.)

4. Is my timing bad? Is the current climate not well suited for someone like me to get back into the industry (though I have a feeling that no climate would be conducive to someone in my position.)

To add: I am in my early 30's and have an undergraduate degree. Financially, I have a comfortable 1 year runway or a 1.5 year runway at a pinch. So I can't afford to go back to school; a bootcamp I could attend (as long as it's remote) but I'm not really sure how good they usually are.

Many thanks to anyone who takes the time to respond.