I was in a similar boat myself some years back. Maybe 2013-2014 ish. Had been working for years in Windows admin and wanted to get into Linux admin. Homelab, loads of scripting experience. Couldn’t even get my foot in the door. Every single company only wanted graybeards. I eventually gave up and went back to school to get into software dev. The sysadmin scene was just so brutal and seemed like it was shrinking everyday. I have no idea what things are like now, but it was bleak back then