It's become a tricky tightrope to walk with the pro-side of self-learning is that it's necessary to stay attractive in the job market, but one downside is that it can feel like unpaid work because you're unemployed but learning these things for your career, and not for personal enjoyment or passion.
I have no job for which to learn new things on paid time- all my time right now is unpaid, and sometimes I can't help but think that any sort of career improvement when you have no job still needs to be compensated in a more immediate, consistent fashion.
If you want a job that doesn't match your experience, there's no way to avoid doing some grinding to understand the tech. Your other option is to interview for jobs that are closer to your prior experience.
Absolutely. I agree 100% and also think that that’s something you’d get in a “perfect world” ran by non-greedy people that care about others.