Reddit reviews Java SE8 for the Really Impatient: A Short Course on the Basics (Java Series)

1. You should try picking up anything you find interesting and make an effort to never stop learning. I understand you didn't like your job, but that was really no excuse to stop developing yourself. You can join coding groups, partake in hackathons, etc. to keep yourself learning and more viable/marketable in the industry.
   
   
2. If that is where your interests lie. Honestly I leave things I know off my resume just because I know I would be unhappy doing them full-time.
   
   
3. It really depends on what you meant by 'you didn't do well at interviews'. Did you flub a lot of programming questions that you should have gotten? Then yes. Learn more programming nomenclature and processes. Of course, no company is going to expect you to know every single thing they ask. A lot of the times they are just seeing how you respond to being in a difficult position. That brings us to the next question: did you flub interviews because you are not as strong as you could be in the communication department? If that is the case then maybe you should find a local Toastmasters group and get some public/small group speaking experience under your belt.
   
   
4. Yes. Join an open source project. Write some proof of concept things using new technologies. Polish them and show that you are a developer who cares about their code. Companies will guaranteed look at your github profile.
   
   
5. There are plenty of .NET jobs out there. Maybe you should start a .NET personal project and throw the code up on github?
   
   
6. I wouldn't necessarily say you need to be an expert, but you should know what direction Java is headed in and show an interest in it. I would recommend this book if you want to quickly assimilate the key points of 8. Again, this just shows companies that you really do love programming and care about what is new and what is on the horizon.
   
   
7. Be honest: tell them you were fired, what lead up to it, what you learned from the experience, and that it was a wakeup call that has lead to you working diligently towards personal development in the future in order to avoid a situation like that again. Then drop it and get back to your interview.
   
   
8. Who knows. All you have told us is that you didn't like the work you were doing. Do you like the business logic side of it? Maybe you should be a BA. Do you like trying to break software? Take your programming skills and get into QA testing. Finding out you don't like computers? There's always Peace Corps. Find a passion. I started my professional career as a physicist but fell into comp sci due to lack of jobs/money. I haven't regretted it a single day and I love my job. Because of that I push myself to learn more which in turn leads me to higher salaries and bigger titles, which makes me love my job even more. Sure it gets tedious some days, but good luck finding a job that doesn't.
   
   TL;DR: Figure out what you want to be when you grow up and start pushing in that direction.

Java 8 for the impatient -> https://www.amazon.com/Java-SE8-Really-Impatient-Course/dp/0321927761