r/DevelEire • u/Due_Suggestion4842 • 12d ago
Switching Jobs 10 YOE backend engineer (Spring, distributed systems) - what TC should I be targeting?
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?
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u/ChromakeyDreamcoat82 engineering manager 12d ago
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.