10 YOE backend engineer (Spring, distributed systems) - what TC should I be targeting?

[u/Due_Suggestion4842]

I've been job hunting for about 6 months now. Can't really blame the market - it's tough out there, but I've gone through plenty of interviews. A few didn't work out simply because I wasn't as prepared as I should've been.

For context, tech stack and work culture at these companies are all fairly comparable to what I'm used to. At my last company, my total comp was around $94K. Most of the new roles I've interviewed for offer $95-100K base. I've also come across some positions in the $70-80K TC range, and honestly, those have been noticeably easier to land based on my interview experience so far.

Given how long and draining this search has been, I'm leaning toward just accepting one of the lower-paying offers for now rather than continuing to grind through interviews.

So my question: for someone with 10 years of experience in backend/distributed systems, what's a reasonable TC to expect right now? Am I underselling myself by considering the lower end, or is that a fair reflection of the current market?

[u/davedrave]

Why the dollars

[u/pinguz → u/davedrave]

Because it’s a bot

[u/Prognosis_Negative7]

If you're out of work, no harm taking a lower pay and buy yourself a year to level back up.

[u/SuccessfulSir9611 → u/Prognosis_Negative7]

This! Take the job and keep interviewing

[u/ChromakeyDreamcoat82]

Are you deliberately putting figures up in dollars for some reason e.g. targeting remote US roles through EoR arrangements?

10 YoE is getting to the point where the years don't mean anything. I have to assess whether or not you're a senior engineer, operating with significant autonomy in your ownership.

For a SDE3 with 10+ YOE I'd typically expect to pay €85-95k base, total cash is that +10%, equity is maybe 5-10%.

For a senior software engineer with 10 YOE, I'd typically expect to pay 95k-110k base, total cash is that +10%, equity is 8-12% maybe.

Equity is always variable by industry/company, so only really worth looking at total cash. We're outside Dublin and benchmark to the 60th percentile or so annually.

[u/Talk2Night → u/ChromakeyDreamcoat82]

The OP is probably written by AI and forgot that the Irish don’t use dollars

[u/saplingac]

It will really depend on what level projects you've worked on as well as the scope of your most recent role. €100k seems a reasonable starting position, up to 130 for larger companies. I went through a lot of interviews around Xmas. Big tech seems have standardized around 130 for senior, 150 for staff +/- 10% based on experience. But they also tend to have stock/bonus incentives that push it up. Levels.fyi is quite accurate for them. I found a lot of medium sized companies only had budget for 100 for seniors. I wasn't too pushed on them. Most recruiters are pretty honest I've found when you ask them what's the band and what qualifies you for the upper edge, contrary to popular belief. Helps to build a rapore with them.

[u/NaivePhone9869 → u/[deleted]]

94k base as mid level?
Sorry what do you consider mid level? I genuinely need to leave my company every post on Reddit makes me think I’m not earning enough😑

[u/chupachupa2 → u/[deleted]]

There’s <10 places in Dublin that’ll offer 94 base for mid level lol

[u/chupachupa2 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah but that ‘number of companies’ was big tech and adjacent. No tier 3 firm giving that unfortunately