perdid0

I graduated with a bachelor's of engineering in a top public school. I learned software in my first job, where for a few years I did enterprise Java, some basic SQL and basic frontend. It was definitely a large code base, just no fancy technology behind it. After that, I struggled to find a job and out of desperation accepted an application configuration developer position. Essentially, I work in the services side of the company, doing simple coding and configuration of the product for separate clients. I have always been very aware how this is a step back (even worse considering I didn't start very far ahead to begin with).

But every time I attempt to apply to jobs, I can't get them. I feel like I'm stuck. I feel most employers on the Who's Hiring thread (or anywhere else) probably look at my resume and not see me aligning anywhere close to their requirements. Which I would probably agree to. But at this point I'm also somewhere close to 10 years into my career, so I'm definitely not a junior. I feel like the only jobs I will be able to get are similar to what I've had: basic web developer, not tackling any interesting problems, little potential for growth, and if I'm lucky maybe using some modern technology.

I really just want a job that is willing to accept that I don't have their requirements, but them being okay to letting me pick it up on the job. More than anything, I want to grow my career. I want to work somewhere challenging, where I can problem solve and learn. I am not a bad software developer. If anything, I'm quick to learn and will always end up being the subject matter expert of what I'm working on. I like computer science, which is why I'm also currently enrolled in a computer science masters. I know I'm not dumb. I just don't know how to prove my worth to companies when applying.

Any advice will be very appreciated

People who are developers/software engineers but don't work in web development, if you don't mind me asking, what do you do?

I'm tired of developing web applications and of browsing through a whole bunch of job postings which all boil down to some combination of required language(s), some web framework, REST API, and one of the clouds.

Is that where most of writing code is now? Is there any hope for something else?