And attract shops that have make work challenging and interesting, not just allow me to stay conformed to doing the same work

Interview ends with remark: "lazy, no ambition"[/quote]

I'm not sure if I follow. I said that I want to attract shops that make work challenging. This should not translate to having "no ambition". It's the opposite, right?
[/quote]

It kind of sounds like you need something interesting. What you really need is a job and experience. Whether it is boring or not should have no bearing right now. It is better to do a boring job for a year than to never get a job. If your resume broadcasts that you don't want to do any contract work, then you have already eliminated probably 75% of your potential employers if not more. Many employers will only hire people with little experience on contract so they don't have the pressure of having to fire you later while they keep the potential to bring you on full time.

Focus more on what you can do for the companies and less on what the companies can do for you.

To follow up on that question, 90% of the websites I worked on were for sub-$5,000 clients/projects. The biggest project I worked on was a marketing website for cleaning services to manage campaigns and customers. I added search features, sales metrics, and calendar functions. I usually advertise this one in my resume. Ironically I cannot report how well this sales website did. I was removed from this project when the client ran out of funds, and it stayed in limbo as long as I can remember.

Other than that, my completef projects were for many small businesses like hardware shops, a seafood restaurant, a dog grooming salon, etc. 2 out of 3 were about adding new features or content tweaks, the rest were built from scratch. These were projects selected for me since I was the only developer in-house, and most of the heavy lifting was done by an off-shore team.

This is your work history. It's not good or bad, it *is*. And unless you start appreciating it, nobody else will. But it has no "quality" trait.

If presented this way on an interview, without really hard numbers and other industry-relevant metrics, it makes it sound as if you are describing about having your teeth pulled.

I'm not sure if I follow. I said that I want to attract shops that make work challenging. This should not translate to having "no ambition". It's the opposite, right?
[/quote]

In this entire thread there isn't even a single hit at what you would find interesting or challenging. The only thing being repeated over and over is that you need a job.

Before anything else, you need to change perspective. The fact that you are looking for a job is obvious and redundant - you are interviewing. People who don't need a job don't do that. Ever. It's not a pleasant experience.

Next is to put the past in the past. Those things are just a fact as well. What, where and why you did something is set in stone and can no longer be changed. Funds ran out? Company died? Code got written.... Yes, it also rained last week. Just like talking about last week's weather the rest is boring as well since it cannot be changed.

"Last week it rained and I was late, but I realized I forgot an umbrella. So there I am, tux and everything and it's pouring. So I get some duct tape, garbage bags and McGyver myself a waterproof cape. Boy, were the other people at wedding staring, thinking a bum crashed their party."
"Last week I came to a wedding dressed in trashing bags and Jenny told me I'm a bum and it really hurt me".
"Can you believe John - he came to my wedding as a bum, he's such a total loser"

Three stories, three perspectives, same event.

You are what you portray. If you disrespect your past, so will the interviewers. There is no "interesting" or "challenging". There are things you do or don't do. Some will perceive them as interesting, others will not.

How to find interesting and challenging work - do something interesting and challenging. If there is an employer that is allowing you to do that - go there.

But just like career, these are the things that cannot be given, they can only be found. But first you need to try.

And, obviously, jobs are in short supply. But there is contracting, freelancing, part-time, training, meet-ups, .... Interviewing after responding to a CV-mill job site is just one of them. And the only jobs that end up on such sites are those that nobody wants. All the others get filled before then. But if you really have no other options or don't want to explore them, then they can offer a free-for-all opportunity to enter the industry to get access to everything else.