**There’s a kind of desperation that comes with wanting your first salary.**

I’m not just talking about getting a software job or any specific career. I’m talking about earning the first money from something you’ve spent months or years learning.

You go all in.

You ask everyone for work. You send messages, emails, DMs, proposals. You show people what you’ve built and the skills you’ve worked hard to develop. You keep looking for opportunities everywhere.

And then reality hits.

No one seems interested.

People ignore you. Some aren’t straightforward. Others don’t care enough to even reply. You start wondering if all the time and effort you invested into learning this skill was worth it.

You don’t even want a huge amount of money at first.

You just want proof that your work has value. You want recognition. You want someone to say, “Yes, I need this. I’ll pay for it.”

But instead, you keep brainstorming every day. Your brain hurts from overthinking. Old emails and unanswered messages still haunt you.

At some point, frustration turns into a strange thought:

If I can’t sleep because I don’t have work in my hands, then clients shouldn’t sleep without at least seeing my work.

Maybe that sounds desperate.

Maybe it is.

But I genuinely want to know—does anyone else feel this way while trying to earn their first salary or their first client payment?

Anyone Else Desperate for Their First Salary After Putting Everything Into Their Skill?