some background: 23m, schizophrenic computer engineering grad became a hiki during Covid currently living with mom my soft skills atrophied–I gotta micromanage my expression and inflection, and tend to cut off or withdraw from convos once I reach my limit or get what I want. I’ve always had a screw loose but in a charming way. I think it might’ve fell out during this stint. still don’t socialize enough, but I stay in shape and spend a good chunk of time writing free software. i was hoping to land a cushy gig but the tech market is fucked for entry level/junior software devs. I’ve been told I’m a solid programmer, I’ve written software that people I know use, but I have hardly any work experience aside from manual labor and social work. i’m looking for advice on two fronts: *how to network with normies, not just talk to them

• what can I research/study to upskill into I enjoy working with my hands and wouldn’t mind something lacking in glamour like maintaining infrastructures and outdoor tech. any ideas are welcome. been trying to get under the wing of a codger that maintains radio towers but reckon I need something to dazzle him first.