Try government work. I was in state government for a long time, trying to make it work. It doesn't. Unless you're a contractor.
They get all the development work, and then regular staff have to try to actually get things working, and maintain it, not knowing how or why it was built that way, but by then the contractor is off doing something else.
During the last failed project I was in the middle of, in 2003 (mostly as an observer, because I actually worked there), I was making around $42k/yr, and the guy in the next cubicle was making $200k.
He knew different things than I did, but I also knew different things than he did, so the difference in pay was because he was a contractor, and therefore considered to be valuable.
Whenever I got a chance to actually do something, my stuff would slip into production and actually work, silently and forever, so I never got to be a hero by coming in on weekends to perform miracle rescues when everything blew up. Because it didn't. One reason that I was never considered to be an asset.
Anyhow, there's government all over. Exactly every town has it, every county, and every state, and there are lots of companies already set up to feed on it, and usually always looking for bodies to throw at it. You can find a niche.
Are you saying to look at NY state government job listings and find contracting roles that way? Or are you suggesting I make connections with state gov't to get work as a contractor?
Look at state, county, and municipal government. These are all soul-killers but generally come with livable pay and good benefits, and if you have any relevant skills at all, it's relatively easy to find an opening. There is also contract work for these entities, which can give you a chance to meet people, check out the landscape, and note which skills are in highest demand while you find a way to wiggle into the system.
Stay only as long as you need to or the environment will destroy you. Usually I'd say one year max, but you sound like you need more. Use your time to plan your future in detail.
Look and act happy. Defer to "authority" (i.e., the hopeless incompetent mutants who hire and fire). Smile a whole lot. Pretend that you like everyone even if you hate them all. Engage in friendly chitchat and help out with birthdays and potlucks when they come around. Fake it.
If people like you they'll give you a pass on everything as long as you don't set the place on fire or molest their children. If people don't like you then you're out of luck no matter how excellent you are, because it's government work, and government doesn't go broke, and if something doesn't get done today, or doesn't get done right, there is always tomorrow. And people just want to get through the day and go home and forget about it.
A more in depth version, originally in Spanish: "Freddie Figgers, the baby who was dumped and is now a tech millionaire", BBC Outlook, February 20, 2021, from BBC Mundo via Google Translate:
And the podcast which I just found (haven't listened to it yet). "The broken computer that unlocked my fortune."
"Abandoned at birth, Freddie Figgers became a tech prodigy. When his beloved adoptive dad got Alzheimer’s, Freddie invented a shoe with GPS tracking that led to his fortune."
"Tina Chopp is God." All over Bellingham, WA in the early 1980s, then Seattle, usually scribbled in alleys and under bridges.
I have a copy of the "Book Of Tina Chopp" stored somewhere on a backup drive. No idea if it's still findable online. Mostly a slim link to the memories of my enjoyable days in Bellingham way back when, though I don't know if I'll actually ever read it.
Also, my uncle had a boat. Named "Little Schmo". Had a line drawing over the name, looking just like the drawing in the article. Early 1950s. (I'm that old.) Some things were better then.
"The E-Myth ('Entrepreneurial Myth') is the mistaken belief that most businesses are started by people with tangible business skills, when in fact most are started by 'technicians' who know nothing about running a business. Hence most fail...Let me assure you that in my experience, ...I still see too many businesses started by technicians who haven’t acquired the basic skills or knowledge, or still assume that business acumen is a minor part of the new business equation."
OK, you revealed only far down this thread that you actually are a special case, not just some random local who got an interview. That does add complexity.
But (and I am no expert, and I have never come within a million miles of this level of employer), I decided decades ago that anyone who didn't have the brains to hire me was someone I didn't want to work with. No, really - what you see and what you think you want might not be what you need, and a different employer could be a better match.
I've found in my life that unexpected and unanticipated opportunities usually turn out better for me than ones I think I ought to pursue. Maybe that's only me, maybe not.
And finally, as others have said, interviewing gives you more practice at interviewing, which makes you better at interviewing, and more likely to make it through the inevitable random fluctuations that reject qualified candidates. Randomness is not your fault, but practice at recognizing it and dancing around it will help you.
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0535/6917/products/mistake...
https://despair.com/