I think it's probably not your intent, but this sort of feels like a humble brag. Reason being that 14 months is far short of "over two years", and I think that a job offer from Microsoft is something that a lot of people would be thrilled with.

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windowshopping 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

It didn't come across to me that way at all, not even a little.

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melenaboija 6 hours ago | parent [-]

Because you might be in a similar situation.

Don't know if true and if not might be close, but I recently saw the average compensation at Microsoft is ~200k...

	▲	CoastalCoder 5 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I was paid closer to $145k while at Microsoft, and the health insurance fory locality kinda sucked (according to my wife, who manages that part of our lives). And I didn't stay long enough fory stock grant to vest at all (IIRC).
	▲	confidantlake 4 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		I got lowballed by a certain washington state based company. Was no where close to that number. Edit: was slightly lower than the number the sibling comment mentioned.
	▲	CoastalCoder 5 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		I was paid closer to $145k while at Microsoft, and the health insurance fory locality kinda sucked (according to my wife, who manages that part of our lives).

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CoastalCoder 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I appreciate the feedback. I often fail to anticipate how my words will be heard until it's too late.

FWIW, the main points I was trying to convey are:

1) Even 14 months was really hard me.

2) Only because I had a 401(k) to tap did I avoid disaster.

3) Even after long unemployment there can, in some cases, be a path back to a reasonable career.

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apsurd 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I guess I get it, but also the person just answered the question.

I'm commenting because I get self-conscious of over sharing. Being asked a direct question and answering it, should be good shouldn't it?

	▲	freetime2 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I don't really agree that they answered the question directly. The OP asks: > Has anyone else been unemployed for over two years? How are you coping? I view the first question as actually being more of a selector trying to narrow down the discussion to people who are in the same boat and are currently unemployed for 2+ years. So not applicable to the parent. And they don't even attempt to answer the second question. Of course anyone is free to comment on HN, and discussions in comments frequently go off topic. And I do think that 14 months is a long enough time to be able to empathize with with the OP is going through. But I guess what I personally would like to have seen is some acknowledgement that "I know the question was directed at people who are unemployed for 2+ years, but..." and trying to answer the OPs question of how to cope. And also some acknowledgement that a job at Microsoft, while maybe not a good fit for the parent, is actually quite a privilege.

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Aurornis 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

It's relevant even if not a perfect match.

Discouraging people from posting positive anecdotes is not the goal, either. If anything, positive stories are very valuable in threads like this.