Do you think $120k is a reasonable expectation for a SWE with 2 YOE in this market? That's what I am shooting for, and still think is reasonable to expect, but on the otherhand if layoffs continue, I guess I may be forced to reconsider...
It really depends on the employer, I’m a “mid level” engineer with ~10 YOE and I’m struggling to find offers in the $155k (mid-level) to $175k (senior) range.
Keep fighting the good fight and don’t let yourself be under-valued.
Wow I am surprised to hear that with 10 YOE it's still tough to find work. I was under the impression as you gained more experience people would be clamoring to hire. Hope you find something soon!
There is a tradeoff between people not wanting to pay much and just looking for some fairly generic skills on one hand--and people looking for specific skills, particular experience, and for someone with a given track record that one or more on the hiring team have had personal interactions with on the other.
Put another way, if you're just looking for junior with keywords that's one thing but means you're just a number. But you may be looking for specific individuals with a track record which, given the right match, may be good but you need the right match.
I'm pretty specialized and quite senior in a mostly tech-adjacent role so don't have a lot of personal experience. (And don't have the sort of comp you see in the big-name tech companies.) But that's probably a pretty high expectation for a junior-level position in general outside of SV names.
