I have read several articles on failed searches, but would like to hear some real life experiences and stories. Of course, there are different ways to "fail", but just focusing on no-dealers for a moment, I'm curious what people's experiences have been in bouncing back from this.. As someone who has financial obligations, the prospect of facing an income gap after a failed search is daunting. My background is not in finance or PE, so running a search fund is not likely to help my resume if I want to find employment in my previous line of work. What are employment prospects really like after a no-dealer for someone like me?