HACKER Q&A
📣 vertex-four

How to find work while homeless?


I'm at my wits end.

I was made homeless and had my financial support dropped at the beginning of the year, and am currently staying in squats etc in the Netherlands. I have nearly no income - 10 euros a week in donations towards an open-source project I'm working on to build a live video streaming platform for the fediverse, and occasional requests for solidarity funds.

My situation is... not great. Half my time is taken up by anxiety around police violence, illegal evictions, my friends being arrested. Still, in the immediate term, it's better than sleeping rough.

I'm not sure how to find work; I've not had a paying job in the last 8 years. I've worked on software for myself and others in hackerspaces and the like; and helped run a volunteer cafe for a large portion of last year (sinking 20+ hours a week into that fairly consistently), but I can't seem to even turn that into an actual paying cafe job. I go through bursts of sending dozens of applications a week to anything that is vaguely relevant to anything I've done in the past, and receive... mostly nothing in response.

I don't know what's wrong with me. All I want is to make enough money to survive. I'm going to be dead in a few months if I can't work something out.

Does anyone have any advice, at all?


  👤 jsdevtom Accepted Answer ✓
Homeless shelters often offer the homeless an address. Use this address to get a bank account (you may have to go in to a few branches to find one who accepts the homeless shelter address). Now walk around town and ask for a job in every restaurant/ Cafe/ whatever and give them your CV and ask if they have any jobs. As long as you are smartly dressed and smell fine, you should be able to find a job. Try not to do illegal work - it's often a scam. Shave in the local library with disposable razors when there are hardly any people there. Use this time to wash as well. Now, the bank may need an employers wage slip. Explain to the employer that you need a letter from them for the bank in order to open a bank account stating that you will be working for them soon. Give this letter to the bank. This often works. Try to tell as few people as possible that you are homeless. You will probably have to improvise on these steps. Most importantly and the hardest: remove the victim's mentallity. You are breathing, appreciate everything that you can, even adversity. Nothing is wrong with you. You will look back on this time in the future and be grateful for this. Without it you would not be as strong as you are going to be.

👤 rndgermandude
Frankly, finding a job isn't your problem right now, being homeless is, because of the way things work in most of Europe: it is almost impossible to find a steady job without an address.

There is professional help you can get for free from charitable organizations that will not only help you find a residence but also advise/help you with government agencies and help you get any welfare you may be entitled to, law enforcement (if needed) or jobs.

Use this help and don't try to do it alone; most people who try on their own fail, while the success rates for people taking help are a lot, lot better. Especially considering that you seem to have more or less exhausted the help your friends/family can provide, to no avail.

I was once told by somebody working for such an organization, that in Germany the success rates to at least stop homelessness is near 100% for all "reasonably sane", "reasonably sober" and "reasonably cooperative" people if they accepted help from such an organization, and I'd guess it will be not that different in the Netherlands.

E.g. this seems to give a good overview: https://dutchreview.com/expat/housing/if-youre-homeless-in-t...


👤 jchallis
Find a church - neither too big nor too small. Introduce yourself as someone willing to do assist with the IT/ secretarial / etc. in exchange for warm food and a shelter bed. Churches have very large networks. When you get on your feet, and you will, remember who helped you survive.

👤 abinaya_rl
Remote Leaf[1] founder here, I would like to offer you three months of free membership, that might help you land a remote job since you have coding skills. We hand-pick thousands of remote jobs from tons of job boards and only sends the ones that apply to you. Just ping me on Twitter and send me an email to avail this :)

[1] - https://remoteleaf.com


👤 nanna
Hello friend, I'm sorry to hear that things are so difficult. Remember that even this shall pass, so please hold on.

For the immediate term, I would recommend looking for an easy brainless job that would bring in some money while being easy to quit, so that you can look for coding work. A bar, cafe, pizza shop, whatever. Ideally somewhere where squat-friendly people work. It sounds like it could be good for you to be around other people, so I would personally do that instead of Upwork.

Coding work - I would suggest seeing if any small NGOs, charities or companies need some help. Don't necessarily wait for job adverts - just get in touch directly with a warm intro and a nice cv. In my experience they are often in a total state of chaos when it comes to their tech, and having someone who can straighten things out is incredibly valuable to them. The pay's not necessarily great, but it's meaningful and you'll get to employ a wide range of skills and be your own boss.

It's unclear what you mean by being 'dead in a few months'. Can I suggest that if you are contemplating suicide you reach out for help on that immediately, ok?


👤 burgerquizz
I've read the comments you've written on HN.

It really feels like you have a good understanding of many tech out there. I'm a bit surprised a profile like yours post this.It feels like you could easily pick up any entry level dev job? HN would always surprise me.

If I were you, I'd show up in every tech meetups I could find.Talk with people, and offer free (paid?) advices for subject you feel comfortable with. After few weeks, I think you could get a bit of money for consulting or even a job offer.


👤 vasco
I live in the Netherlands (Amsterdam region), I'm not Dutch so my network here isn't very large to help you with a job, but worst case I could buy you a coffee and have a chat with a fellow dev. Let me know, my email is vasco g pinho with no spaces at gmail.com.

👤 marcus_holmes
I solved this problem for myself 30 years ago by turning up outside the local Manpower offices at 7am with safety boots on. The local construction gangs picked up any extra workers they needed for the day there, and it was halfway decent cash-in-hand work. I earned enough for my share of the deposit for a house share with a mate, and the rest was easier once I had an address.

But times have changed and I very much doubt that would work any more.

However, now there is Upwork (and several other similar). If you can meet the basics with that: a bank account, a network connection, a laptop, a basic understanding of PHP and enough Google Fu to understand a Stack Overflow answer, etc, then you can actually make some money there. It's not very interesting, but it does pay money.


👤 Jugurtha
I think we need to reframe the problem.

It shouldn't be how to find work while homeless, it should be how to find shelter while jobless.

Finding work _while_ homeless is akin to getting married with a cut femoral artery. Can be done, but the odds of success of the former are improved if we stop the bleeding.

I think changing the amenities situation should be top priority. That should be the objective. How can you get shelter, especially during the night, in an affordable manner for your current situation?

- Shelters

- Working at jobs that require an extended presence on site where it's more practical to live there than commute: boats, hospitality (hostels), buildings (concierge), assisting a limited mobility or elderly person (stay at home or retirement home), night security (you stay there in the night, which is more dangerous, and try to find another job during the day. Naps during the day in a park are less dangerous).

Can I send money to get you in a hostel for a few days just to bootstrap the thing?


👤 louwrentius
I don't know you and I might be wrong. But not having a paying job for the last 8 years feels to me like you have some personal issues and now being homeless is a symptom of that.

If you are a UK citizen, you should absolutely be able to get the professional help you need from that country.


👤 notenoughhorses
It sounds like you might need a bit more help than just job suggestions. Does your city have any social services non-profits that help with job searching? I recommend going to one of those and even if they can't help with your exact issues, they might be able to refer you to people / organizations who can help, given more details of what you're dealing with.

If you're on HN, I'm guessing you have marketable skills, even if that means office admin work. So the challenge might be something other than your skill set. You say you haven't had a regular job in 8 years which makes me wonder if that's because the stuff that comes with regular jobs is particularly difficult for you (having to show up at x time, sit there for y hours, fitting into the culture of the office, etc)?


👤 predators372
I don't have much to contribute for lack of experience with the field, but I want you to specifically and deliberately renounce what you say in your last paragraphs. There is nothing WRONG with you. This is a tough situation, a lot of people of lesser caliber would've already crumbled, and you're GOING to solve it and move forward with your life and very likely with your career. Breathe. It sucks. It's okay that it sucks because it won't suck later.

You got this, friend.


👤 lazyjones
1. get away from these "friends".

2. find any (non-IT, just 20h if necessary) job through the job centre etc. to feed you and finance a home

3. research and visit all potential organizations that provide benefits while you are unemployed


👤 dijit
Er, that doesn't sound like a good position.

I can't really relate; although I grew up in poverty and understand that aspect of things and it took me a very long time to get my first job (and, even my second job actually).

Does anyone ever give you feedback on why they are not hiring you? It's possible that it's something small but people are reluctant to give negative feedback if it doesn't benefit them to do so.

If I were in the same situation as you (IE; very little industry experience as an employee) I might consider leaning heavily on my github profile, make sure it's as polished as possible, figure out the key things you enjoy working on and then make it appear as if you do those things often. -- Finding bugs in lots of software is a great way to get your activity boxes to light up dark green!

Hiring managers (I speak from experience as I am responsible for hiring peers, though not as a manager) love to see something clear and consistent. So if you're a dabbler it might be more tricky to convey competence. Try to find a focus area; contribute to, or build something with a clear singular purpose (like saltstack or grafana)

Second is to get as many eyes from technologists on your profile, your CV, whatever. Feedback will go a long way. You can find people on freenode (or here) to do this.

Third I would look for companies _outside_ of my local country, because:

  1) they will over some kind of relocation package (which might be monetary)
  2) they will pay for flights/hotel on the last stage of interview
  3) they will likely find accommodation for you if you get hired.
  (for 3-6months while you get on your feet).
This is easier to do if you're in Europe. :)

Cafe's are obviously your friend when interviewing. But getting your foot in the door is probably the hardest thing.

FWIW; my studio is hiring relatively aggressively and we're based in Malmo, Sweden.

The relocation package is reimbursement for expenses and 6months of living in our apartments, in general the people working in the studio care about competence not experience, you just need to get around the HR filter somehow.

https://www.massive.se/career/


👤 blhack
Get a job for a small company with no IT department doing some sort of office work or data entry. Automate parts of your job, or write reports for your boss.

Now your boss will ask you to write more reports for HIS boss, and suddenly you are employed as a programmer. If you like that job, keep it, or leave for somewhere else that will hire you with a more appropriate programmers salary.


👤 pvaldes
Is there some good reason for you to want to stay in Netherlands?

I'm just speculating, and maybe this is not for you, but perhaps you could consider moving to a southern place.

Same problems as now, same difficulties, same police and nasty people but...

1) A little of sun and a less harsh climate can do wonders in your soul. Only for that you should consider putting some distance from dutch's winter.

2) You speak english well in the Mediterranean tourism sector, you have the 95% of the job yet.

3) An unique look can be used as an advantage. Is easier to blend in a holidays place. People feel less territorial, are more customed to see different people and more forgiving. Entertainers, performers, extravagant dresses etc... are expected. Drunk people is everywhere in the coast and can be dangerous, but with a low entry job, you can start building some safety for you, stay out of the streets and navigate most problems. Doing remote work, you can be as invisible as you want.

4) You need spending less in clothes and can dress casual more easily. You can use the sea and beach showers for free each time you need a bath.

5) Somebody lying in a street all day is a homeless, Somebody lying in a beach all day is a tourist. If you can find a safe place for your properties first (!) and keep a clean look and low profile, you could sleep all day under an umbrella. Nobody will care about it, and nobody will call the police for that. Just remain in places with more people, be careful with pickpockets, cover your skin from excesive sun with light clothes or/and sunscreen and the problem of not enough sleeping quality time is fixed.

I assume that some of this areas have a gay friendly scene also and that many people needing publicity, accounting, and web pages to promote their bussiness could find useful your computer skills.


👤 LouisSayers
First of all, nothing’s wrong with you! You’re feeling down about your situation, but situations can be changed. It’s important to have the mindset that it’s temporary and to know that your situation will improve. If you have to, write down how you want your life to be in the future and read it to yourself every day. Remind yourself of the skills and value that you have and make small steps every day to move towards your goals.

Appearance - this is important, I’d work to make myself look, sound and smell very much the opposite of what you’d think a homeless person might look and smell like. Make sure you are clean, well groomed, and if you need to, ask people if they can help buy you some clothes that make you look presentable. Most homeless people ask for money on the street. They never ask for something specific. I believe if you ask for specific things you want - like ask someone if they can buy you a shirt to help you get a job, you will find someone that will do it. Don’t be afraid to ask people for help - I believe people want to help others.

You have by the sounds of it many skills. You’ve worked in a cafe and can provide references for that so I would go for that angle and look for cafe work.

If you need documents such as tenancy, first see if you can find a legitimate way of solving the problem, but tbh if I was in your position and needed documents I would just forge them - you have the skills and it’s not hard to do things like give someone a number of a friend and get them to pretend to be someone.

You might want to make a living out of programming, but you need to look after your living situation first. Go for the low hanging fruit, get a cafe job and work your way up slowly from there. Get away from the other homeless people and get into a hostel. Make new friends and focus your mind on things away from the dramas of living as a homeless person.

Good luck! Be strong and small steps every day.


👤 dr0per
With your current state of mind you should take a break from coding. Try to find a easy job, just to have a place to stay, eat and sleep and after 6-8 months, or when you feel better, you can attempt to seek it opportunities.

👤 gwbas1c
Lots of good advice in the highly-rated responses. I can't add much to those. But, this is what strikes a nerve:

> I've not had a paying job in the last 8 years

Once you get through this, remember that idealism doesn't pay the bills.

At a certain point, if you can't make a living doing it, it's not worth doing.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't volunteer for things or avoid charity work, but consider this: You're not financially independent. What you spend most of your waking hours needs to pay the bills. It's your choice if you want to work well below your earning potential because it's something you believe in or enjoy, but whatever you work on, it has to generate enough income that you can pay your bills.


👤 PopeDotNinja
I used to be homeless, so I have some thoughts:

- guard your laptop with your life, cuz you don't wanna lose it if you can't afford to replace it

- study your ass off

- don't bring homelessness into job interviews, as it is a big distraction for the employer


👤 bojan
Google the "daklozenloket" and the place name where you are. They should be able to help you. That is your priority number one, getting registered somewhere. The Netherlands has a good welfare system, make use of it.

Then start looking for jobs. Developer jobs are plenty. Ignore the 5 year experience requirements, in these times those are wishlists more than the actual requirements.

Considering you are British, are you allowed to work in the Netherlands?


👤 MoroCode
This sounds very rough, wishing you all the best. I would say the main goal for you here is survival and having a roof over your head. Maybe consider getting a minimum wage job somewhere to at least give you enough money for food and rent while you keep looking for another job in the field you love. The other thing is to look at remote jobs. There are plenty out there especially nowadays. Wishing you all the best

👤 akavel
Try contacting https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=DoreenMichele, see contact info in her profile — she's been homeless (though in US IIUC) and writes openly about that, and about helping people in this unfortunate situation, she might hopefully be able to help and support you in some practical ways.

👤 DickingAround
One option: Take any job in any industry from well functioning (i.e. large) company. They'll have to offer it as a real, paying job and not some half-formed idea. Doesn't have to be software (though it sounds like that's the general skill set we've got here). Once you have living money, you can decide if you want to go bigger on living money or spend the rest of your effort on hobby projects.

👤 andrem
I cannot promise anything but I’m in the Utrecht area and would be more than happy to give you some advice face to face or potentially help you somehow with projects if there is a fit.

Do you have an email address to reach you?


👤 elwell
I'm glad you chose to reach out. If you'd like another pair of eyes to proofread your resume/cv, send me an email at elwell.christopher at gmail. Also I'd be happy to talk about spiritual things, God, Christianity, if that's something you're interested in.

👤 leandot
With your english and the fact that you're technical you should be able to get a job at least in a call/support center, if not in the Netherlands, then at least somewhere in CEE. You should be able to get 1-2k euro/month, get back to your feet and start over. Good luck!

👤 machiaweliczny
Amazon Warehouse / Tech support --> something better. If you are good at coding you can make side money at freelance websites. If you are legit good at coding and can prove it to me and don't mind moving to Poland then I can referr you to at least one offer a day.

👤 ijidak
I'm really sorry to hear about your situation.

Please don't give up.

An ancient proverb says, "Better is the end of a matter than its beginning." Meaning, with patience and effort things generally CAN get better.

From your messages, it is clear that you are intelligent.

So, it's just a matter of diagnosing what have been your road blocks up to this point, and keep pushing forward through it.

This article has some suggestions of what has worked for others in a homeless situation.

I hope that it helps you come up with a few ideas.

https://www.jw.org/en/library/magazines/g201505/hope-homeles...



👤 fredgrott
Look folks let's see if we can help this dude out...

First, everything is very noisy now. You need to switch to putting out free value somewhere online so that potential employers see it. I was doing it your way, although different set of circumstances, doing a whole bunch of hey look at me will not work in a very crowded room.

So vertex-four do you have anything online that you can point to so we can use Hn to get the word out?

We know by your moniker that you might be math inclined(as it refers to the four vertex theorem) for one and programming for second.


👤 iansowinski
As people here suggest I would try finding any kind of low income job first. For what it takes.

Than when you sort things out and have stable living situation (have place to live and food to eat) you can get back to tech - start attending meetups and maybe try applying jobs via this personal contacts.

I don't know how churches work in Netherlands, in Poland you would get some help - it really depends from people. If you won't reach out for help, you won't get it.


👤 monroenoc
Make a Patreon! You mentioned that you work on an open-source project and also ran a volunteer cafe. Sounds like you are a genuine and hard-working person. Tell your story and I think you will be surprised at how generous and supportive strangers on the Internet can be :)

https://www.patreon.com/

(Please let us know once made and also post to your other social medias!)


👤 DoreenMichele
My resources are US-centric, but this is what I can direct you to:

https://www.reddit.com/r/GigWorks/comments/e81eba/welcome/

Hope that helps. Best of luck.

Edit: I will add There's nothing wrong with you. The gig economy is proving to be a painful transition for a lot of people.


👤 snoozypants
What is your actual background;

- did you study - how much coding experience do you have - which languages - what types of jobs are you applying for - do you have a smartphone (is there not something like https://postmates.com/ in Netherlands) - do you have friends or family who have jobs in businesses (or their own businesses) - Etc


👤 terenceng2010
There are some non-technical online jobs from Appen or Lionbridge that should give you some stable income each month (at max about 100~200USD per month). These jobs usually require you to work from 10~20 hours per week. Besides, there are websites like utest (do testing) and clickworker(microtask), which doesn't have stable income but at the same time much less commitment.

👤 timwaagh
Um if you're near utrecht i've got a garden to fix. i never get around to it. i dont know where in the netherlands you are, but if its utrecht it might be the trouble of walking/biking. I will offer a meager ten euro for it. theres some other things that need to be done here as well as i want the place to be ready for paying guests. Do you have any skills like tiling? I want tiles in my kitchen. If you know about phones well my phone needs fixing or replacing. as for jobs, try the dutch post or sandd. anybody can do that. just like me, they dont pay well. but its steady and better than nothing. if you need an address, pay somebody for registration. thats fraud, but fairly common and i dont think anybody cares. you can try working in it after that. you need an address for it. but lots of consultancies need fresh bodies to throw at clients. they wont ask too many questions.

👤 garethsprice
Freelance IT/web services? Get a haircut, dress nice. You can thrift a decent shirt and slacks - or charities will often be able to help provide these for free. Start telling local business owners you can help with their IT and website needs, then wait for the phone to ring. It will be slow at first, but once you get momentum you'll hopefully be turning work away! Set a goal of talking to 5 potential clients a week, and be sure to ask for paid work.

Once you do a good job for someone, ask if you can use them as a reference - and if they know 2-3 other people who could use your services. Show up on time, respond to calls/messages and you're already a cut above most others. Don't undercharge for your services, and raise your prices regularly. Try and find ways to have clients pay you on a retainer basis so you have consistent cashflow (managed hosting, regular maintenance, on-call retainers etc). Remote work didn't work for me (too much competition from people in cheaper countries - and my best clients were people who did not have the tech skills to even use those sites), building in-person local relationships did (including at meetups/conferences with people I then worked for remotely).

You won't get rich this way, but you should be able to find enough business owners who need reliable, friendly help with something - data entry, setting up Google Suite or VOIP phone systems, basic websites, CRUD web apps, databases, automation, spyware removal, etc. Plus you end up with a portfolio that can help you get a full-time tech job - "consulting" counts as industry experience, and I found employers liked that I could handle a project end-to-end, understanding the business needs involved. This was my path, including the near-homelessness. I started making banner ads for $10/hr. My first $100 day was a real milestone. I'm now an Engineering Manager at a large company (~10 years later).

Best of luck to you. Hang in there, hustle hard.


👤 csomar
That’s a bit surprising given that the Netherlands has a generous social system. I’ll try as a first step to ask and look for government organizations that could potentially help and give you free stuff.

Next, I’ll drop tech for a while. I’ll look for any job that has low or no barrier to entries. Washing cars, cleaning carpets, collecting garbage, etc... These are jobs with little barriers to entry and that will have no problems accepting you if you did sleep on the street yesterday.

After you get yourself a place to stay, better clothes, and a haircut then I’ll start branching into tech again.


👤 kempbellt
Oof... Sounds like a shit situation.

Honest advice:

Quit sitting around waiting for life to drop an opportunity in your lap! Create opportunity for yourself! This post is a great start, but keep going. Approach people in real life with the same friendly and open-hearted attitude, just like you've done here, and your situation will improve - and fast.

Anyone who tries to judge your situation and condemn you for it can fuck right off - ignore them.

Many hostels I've stayed in offer work-for-stay arrangements. Where you spend a couple of hours during the day helping clean, making beds, etc, and they give you a bunk to sleep in. This might help you network with some people - make some friends, and get out of your current squatting situation.

One real conversation can change your entire life, if you are open to it


👤 ansq
It sounds like you're trying a lot of out there ideas (volunteering at cafe, open source donations, helping out at hackerspaces, etc).

My advice is to try to halt all of that and dedicate 100% energy towards traditional ways of finding a job over the next month.

Out of curiosity, what about family?


👤 goatherders
If you have an internet connection:

Either post on Craigslist or walk in to small business with the following offers:

- I will build you a website for (small sum) - I will build your facebook page for (small sum) - I will setup your Twitter account for (small sum)

On and on and on until you can generate a few hundred dollars. The world is a VASTLY different place when you have zero money versus when you have a little money. A little money is a bed or a warm shower or a new set of clothes for a job interview or a warm healthy meal or some advil for a headache.

Avoid trying to solve being homeless and not having a job and not knowing about the future and and and......focus on solving the key challenge right in front of you: lack of resources (money).

Good luck


👤 tbronchain
Lots of good answers here.

"All I want is to make enough money to survive" well, this may be what is wrong with you.

You have programming skills? This is amazing. I understand you currently need some help, but someone also most likely needs your skills.

It's a tough world, but most businesses will not care about your needs to make money. They might even avoid you. However, they will beg for you skills if they realize what you can bring them.

In other words, you may want to focus on learning how to sell yourself, help a business to solve their problems and you will make money.

PS: I know a few people who made lots of cash on upwork with programming skills without qualifications. Try looking for agencies looking for hands.


👤 nojvek
I volunteer at shelters and have spoken to many homeless folks. It’s hard. I feel you.

First you gotta have a place to live so you can focus on other things like finding a job. To find a job you need an address and a bank account. To do a job you have to be well groomed and presentable. You need to get good sleep and be in a decent headspace so you can provide a service to your employer that they’ll pay you for.

Their isn’t much I can do. I just quit my job to go solo so I don’t have a stream of income.

That being said, I am more than happy to donate $100 to help you out to get your wheels moving to the next step.

We software engineers (at-least in the US) are fortunate to make plenty of dough.


👤 someonekjl
find a döner kebap restaurant which run by turkish people. probably they will help you out, find a job for you to enough to get fed. think about something you can provide. thats all they mostly have soft hearts cannot leave people die.

👤 xtiansimon
For what it’s worth— I moved here in the US from CA to NY. I spent months in a shelter and living in my car before I found an SRO above a bar. But I still needed gas money, food, etc. At the first shelter I found everybody was either disabled or working at a day labor company. (You’re in NL, so this isn’t any good for you, but maybe the reference will give you an idea [1]).

[1]: https://www.peopleready.com/home


👤 rijoja
Since there is no PM on HN and I don't want to make my e-mail address to spambots please contact me via my projects contact form and I'll get back to you to see if I can give you a hand:

tbf-rnd.life/contact/


👤 perceptronas
Drop your CV here, somebody might call you

👤 adamsea
Hello sir. Good luck. In addition to all the other good advice, if there is someone you know and respect, and who has a stable living situation overall, I would strongly encourage reaching out to them and ask for help and meeting with them regularly, both for the advice that they can give, with their more intimate knowledge of you than those of us online, and for the encouragement and motivation that comes from feeling like you have someone in your corner. It's one day at a time.

👤 c22
You said you had connections with some hackerspaces. When I did a brief stint of homelessness I was able to lean on my local hackerspace to take showers and receive mail (a fixed address is extremely helpful when job hunting). If you go this route don't get too comfortable and start spending all your time there/sleeping there or you will attract negative attention.

👤 the_gastropod
1. Hang in there. Take care of yourself by being kind to yourself as best you can

2. Keep applying to jobs. Don't give up on that. Something will work out.

3. In the interim, have you considered doing some freelance work via Upwork or something similar? The pay will likely not be great, but it'll be a hell of a lot more than 10 Euros / week, and can grow as you build a client-base.


👤 ackshually
Is there an advice organisation similar to the UK's citizen's advice organisation? I imagine that since the cost of living is so high in the netherlands what you're experiencing must not be an unheard of problem. maybe find the mayor's office (or regional equivalent) and politely ask for advice on where to get help?

Good luck, hope everythig works out.


👤 bwi4
> I don't know what's wrong with me.

There is nothing wrong with YOU. In a bad situation, it's easy to think that you must be a villain or a victim, but you are a hero/ine and you can overcome these challenges.

Connect with social services, they exist to help. Being in a stable and safe situation is going to free up that mental bandwidth to focus on next steps.


👤 akeck
This reminds me of:

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/wkuDgmpxwbu2M2k3w/you-have-a...

in that when one is homeless, most of the budget is already spent, so managing them is critical to success.


👤 zadkey
There are Freelance websites where you can work on small coding projects for money.

Use those get some immediate money and start building up confidence and accomplishments that you can use on your resume/cv.

After doing that for a while apply for a full-time role with your updated resume showing multiple successful small projects from freelance roles.


👤 badlogin78
Your biggest problem is not your lack of experience or lack of an address. Your biggest problem is that you are trying to get a job from a position of complete exhaustion (physical, mental and economical).

If your country has social services get in touch with them, they can give you shelter, food, an some job to get you back on track.

You deserve better.


👤 gnusci
Come back to the ground. It is easier if you take some steps to evolve. Find a job in a bar, spa, shop, cleaning, or so. Those jobs do not require a CV or ref letter. Then, you may get enough money to pay a room or basement. Once you are self sufficient, work hard to get further in you plan.

👤 psawaya
You should post something about what your strongest skills are (programming languages, technologies, etc) as well as your email address. Maybe edit your original post so they're easier to find. You're on the front page of HN: there are a lot of folks here who could help you find work.

👤 paublyrne
Do you have family you could stay with for a little while? It sounds like you need some stability where you're living as a platform to look for some employment.

Even not immediate family. I know that I would take in a cousin that needed help for a while Even if asking is really hard.


👤 lnanek2
It sounds like you are still looking for a tech job? What about day labor, retail, fast food restaurants, etc.. Yeah it sucks, but you just need enough to afford a cheap studio with 6 other guys crammed into it like grad students often do to get by...

👤 londons_explore
Anyone is welcome to use my address for receiving official documents. Just email me to let me know, and I'll send you photos of anything that arrives with your name on.

👤 am_lu
couple of my hacker mates living in the squats works in simple manual jobs, warehouse or street cleaning. zero contract and agency but gives them around £1k a month on minimum wage, well enough to survive. Facebook is good for finding freelance jobs, join a local group and there you find posts about folks looking for someone to do something for them.

👤 tus88
Become a webdev. Current or recent homelessness is a job requirement.

👤 Apofis
Church and ANY JOB POSSIBLE ASAP, like others have pointed out.

👤 blackpegasus
Have you tried going to a farm and helping there.

👤 tigerlily
Which city are you currently in?

👤 richvt1475
Don't give up.

👤 copperfitting1
pls explain more.

👤 nanna
There must be someone here who can find vertex-four a job?

👤 dominotw
>. I'm going to be dead in a few months if I can't work something out.

why would you be dead? Can't tell if this is a troll post.


👤 fredgrott
Nothing is wrong with you. First fix your self esteem, stop beating yourself up.

So now since temp agencies are not hiring. Go gangster. Look at the nearest biz getting customer complaints. If you can stop the customer complaints than talk to the owner and sell him or her on hiring you even if its few hours a week. Should work as they have an immediate pain problem they want to go away.

I hope it helps and please talk to more people and ask for help.