Unfortunately what I've learned is the whole interview / job offer process is a game, and you're very likely to be catfished, and even if you are, it's something your next employer might look at and say "well if you're dumb enough to fall for that, why would I want you?" I agree with mostlyfriendly's sentiment that you want someone that is passionate about their job, but those are hard to find and it's hard for honest people to fake that enthusiasm.

I wouldn't recommend staying in a work environment that doesn't suit you, while at the same time remembering that not everything will ever be perfect and you have to adapt to situations and people if you want to get ahead.

If you need help building your portfolio to show off to potential employers, you could try something like upwork or other temp job sites where you can do smaller projects for people. I'm not sure how far along you are, but I used this method when I was proficient at translating but not great, because it cuts out a lot of the filters that a purchasing department has, since the jobs are smaller or need to be done quickly. And if you're still learning, sometimes you can find a job that isn't as time sensitive and learn as you go and get paid to do it. Later on when I finished school I outsourced some of my day to day work to a python programmer and some other data analysts and offered to give one a job recommendation.

I like it for testing out ideas / data science stuff. I can pay $5k a year for an alteryx license, which is nice, or get someone to write me a python program in an hour. Or if I'm really motivated, learn how to do it myself in a little more time.

Question. How do you handle people who have no idea what they want but somehow expect you to figure it out for them? This seems endemic in programming and database queries.

I just implemented it for a small work project. I don't know why I ever used Excel. Basically zero setup required. Downsides are if you're working with multiple people things like saved queries and data entry forms basically don't exist.

That's why you open the business in your Filippino wife's name. And hope she doesn't divorce you when she gets her green card.