I've been unemployed for 16 months now, and honestly, I feel pretty helpless. I used to work as a software engineer for 5 years, but personal issues have kept me from the job market. I'm just starting to apply for jobs again, but I've heard that the job search can take a year or more. If that's the case, I could be looking at nearly 28 months without a job by the time I find something. It feels overwhelming, and I can't help but wonder if I'll ever get back into a software engineering role. I know I could probably find something like a job at McDonald's, but that's not what I want. I really want to be a software engineer again, but I'm starting to doubt if that's even possible anymore.