What was the subreddit that was tried? Don't remember seeing that effort and maybe I wasn't the only one?

I've definitely felt the frustration from applying, interviewing, and then being rejected without feedback - especially when the company initially approaches you!

Some tips that have worked well for me is to get feedback on your portfolio presentation with other designers with similar or more experience - especially those who are typically involved in the hiring process. I've also received similarly confusing feedback at times ("you don't have enough visual design" or "you have too much of a visual design focus"). It's hard but try not to get too wrapped up in this and just focus on highlighting your experience throughout the interview process.

Lastly I have a number of friends who have found it similarly difficult to move into management. Part of the problem is that the number of roles is just less than the number of IC roles.

Feel free to reach out to me directly if there's any way I can help.

Pay attention to what aspects of your job you like and what you don't and find opportunities that challenge you while letting you pursue what you enjoy! You're still relatively early in your career. If you were to retire at 60 you'd still have 38 years left!

Design has a number of end games. You can pursue management and become a people manager to build teams and help build careers. You could become a design director and lead a UX or product design org. You could pursue a pivot to business or development which would both benefit from UX skills. The key is to continuously evaluate what you enjoy doing and why.

We all know Axure is really where it's at