I know I'm not the only one having issues with finding work, but this is definitely the worst market I've had to deal with since I started working about a decade ago.
I got laid off from my remote job a couple years ago, and was originally intending to take a bit of time off. But then my dad passed away unexpectedly a few weeks after getting laid off, and that kind of fucked me up for a while and wasn't really in the mindset to look for work. I also lost my grandfather a few months later, which also fucking sucked.
I meant to originally start looking for work at the beginning of 2024, but then our kiddo caught COVID, despite masking, cuz the 
s in charge decided our schools must be even bigger petri dishes than they already were by declaring COVID to no longer exist, and one-way masking can unfortunately fail, but I digress. Considering our kiddo is high risk to begin with, we were really relieved that he didn't have any complications after the acute phase. I dodged COVID somehow, but my partner wasn't as lucky. They ended up having several debilitating symptoms that made them semi-bedbound for over half a year, and I more or less decided to shelve my plans for job hunting so I could be their full-time caretaker. And I don't regret that one bit, to be clear, we focused on rest and recovery above all else and my partner is more or less back to their baseline level of health before they got COVID, thank fuck.
Even though my partner is working again and makes enough for us to get by, I would still like to find work for myself. I started looking about half a year ago but am not really having any luck, and I regularly feel dread about it and sometimes it just feels profoundly pointless. Even if an interview goes well, I don't really pin my hopes to any particular role, as I just kind of assume there's a good chance the job is fake, they're pretending they're hiring to make their existing overworked employees feel like help is on the way, or they already have an internal candidate and the interviews are just a formality, but idk.
I can't help but feel that my resume gap is fucking me over. I would hope that gaps have been more normalized since the onset of the pandemic, but I've had multiple interviews where it comes up and the recruiter seems surprised I'm not working (even though I didn't attempt to hide it) and then that's usually the only interview. I've had a couple interviews go multiple rounds, but that's about it. I feel like I've exhausted my network at this point (one of the ones that went multiple rounds was a referral from someone I used to work with, only for them to ghost me entirely, LOL).
And even when I'm transparent about the gap, I'm not sure how much to divulge or what to put on a resume or discuss in an interview, between caregiving, taking what was sort of a sabbatical to deal with loss, and being a stay-at-home dad all the meanwhile. I definitely haven't been sitting on my ass, and I've also been working on relevant education and certifications in recent months as well, but meh.
All the different advice I see is also often conflicting and just makes me want to pull out my hair, too. Be vague about the gap! Actually, be transparent about the gap! Send a tailored resume to every job application! Actually, use a single resume and just bulk apply because it's a numbers game! Actually, use a different resume for each different job title you're seeking! Message the hiring manager on LinkedIn! Actually don't message the hiring manager because they'll hate that and put your resume in the trash!. AHH 
In general I'm finding recruiters to be completely fucking worthless, too. I've had several message me with roles that were relevant and ones I was qualified for, I reply to them, and then I don't hear a fucking peep again. Only one of them actually got back to me and turned it into an interview. So I'm not even sure what fucking good LinkedIn is at this point. I've always fucking loathed that site. I made an account several years ago but it increasingly feels like it would make sense to delete it, especially since I'm considering just lying.
But yeah, is it worth it to just lie at this point? I don't blame anyone who does, especially in this market. Despite this, there's been this part of my brain that has felt resigned to being frank about my situation, but, well, companies lie to candidates and employees all the fucking time, so I've increasingly felt like I might have to play this fucking game, too. And if I need to just make up a role to bridge the gap at this point. Although part of me is still nervous about it, i.e. having a lie be exposed during a background check. Even if I were to lie, I'm not super sure about the best way to do so, you know?
