I recently experienced a layoff from Atlassian, where I worked as a Software Development Engineer II for five years. Despite my expectations for a decent performance rating, my manager rated me poorly, citing a lack of proactivity because I wasn't working the same long hours as some of my colleagues. Before Atlassian, I had a positive experience at Microsoft, but I left for a higher salary. Now, I've been unemployed for a month and I'm feeling the pressure, especially since I'm the sole breadwinner and have several loans to manage. I've been actively applying for jobs, even willing to accept a pay cut, but small companies are hesitant to hire me due to my previous salary, and I'm not getting any responses from larger firms. I'm putting in a lot of effort to prepare for interviews, but I often feel demotivated and regret not working harder in my last role. If anyone has job leads or advice, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!