And if you have all the time in the world to play that out --great. If you have limited savings like the vast majority of Americans -- time is your enemy, and eventually rent will come due. The company can survive for months, years without your labor and if they have to, they will simply purchase it or outsource it if need be.

You need that money more than they need you. There really are few exceptions to this rule -- AI being one of them.

Again I wish it wasn't like this, but it's the reality for the overwhelmingly majority of software developers in this country.

Yes, my comment has a few assumptions

1. That you are in an area of the country with a lot of opportunities

2. That you kept your eye on the market and made sure that your skill set in demand

3. That you kept your resume updated

4. That you kept your network of recruiters, former coworkers, and references fresh.

If you have limited savings like the vast majority of Americans -- time is your enemy

With the unemployment rate of software developers being extremely low, the chances are that someone looking for a job that you are interviewing, already has a job. When I said my turn around from looking for a job to getting a job is about three weeks, I didn't mean to imply that I was a special snowflake.

A company I was working for went through a few rounds of layoffs before everyone was let go -- this was in 2011. Without fail, every developer and even L2 support person had another comparable job within a month.

If a company makes the hiring process too long, more than likely if you are in the right market and you are just a regular old "Full Stack Developer", by the time you go through the process, you've already received a couple of offers

Besides, if I'm looking for a job and I am unemployed, the time I am taking to do homework, I can be meeting with recruiters, preparing for interviews, brushing up on my skillset, etc...