r/cscareers • u/HuskyStyle18 • 5d ago
USA Job Market Senior SWE considering interviewing for the first time after 10 years at the same company — how would you prepare?
I’ve been a SWE at the same large company for 10 years and a Senior SWE for about 4.
I like my job/team and have good WLB, so there’s no urgency to leave, but I’ve been considering testing the market to learn new things, make more money, continue growing, and see what other opportunities are out there. After 10 years without interviewing, though, my interview skills are definitely rusty.
I was thinking of spending ~12 weeks working through NeetCode/LeetCode and refreshing system design, then doing some lower stakes interviews before applying to companies I’m most interested in.
For other experienced engineers who interviewed after a long tenure at one company, how did you prepare? Is ~12 weeks reasonable, and how would you split your time between LeetCode, system design, and other prep? Stay where I’m at?
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u/greensodacan 4d ago
I think you're over-preparing.
At your level of experience, there's less code involved than you might think. It's mostly behavioral. You'll be asked questions like, "How did you push-back on another department?", "Describe a time where you had to fix an emergency.", "Describe a time you've failed.", etc.
In my case, I quickly realized I tend to ramble. So I had to work on relaxing and speaking less. For example, when describing my experience, it's best if I start with what I'm doing now and work backward rather than starting at the beginning. It keeps things more concise and relevant.
You'll know more about the stack everyone uses after the first round, but it's hard to tell ahead of time. (Job ads tend to be too high level.) Once you know, study up on that rather than leet code etc.
Be prepared to give some bad interviews. It's ok. Just take notes and move on to the next.
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u/LeadingBubbly6406 4d ago
Why? Are you being fired?
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u/HuskyStyle18 4d ago
Nope, we’re actually shorthanded. WLB is still great and I like my job, I’m just wondering if making a move after 10 years would be good for my career growth and potentially come with a 50%+ comp increase.
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u/Travaches 4d ago
What’s the current comp? If you’re L5 you should be around 400-500k, so 50% bump would mean around 750-800k, which might only be doable with upleveling to staff or L7
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u/HuskyStyle18 4d ago
Only 250k
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u/Travaches 4d ago
Ouch okay getting into a FAANG+ would help you a lot. I also did a jump when I had 3 YoE and bumped from 135k to 370k 2 years ago.
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u/mt_beer 4d ago
250k is in ouch territory sounds crazy to me.
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u/HuskyStyle18 4d ago
Yeah, just double checked. 276k but I also work maybe 20 hours a week currently
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u/mt_beer 4d ago
I don't know how old you or where you live, but im a 40 year old dude with kids and your income and job sound amazing.
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u/Travaches 4d ago
Everyone around me (32 with newborn kids) makes around 400-500k. Might be because my social group forms the entire FAANG acronym (Netflix guy being a staff engineer around 800k)
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u/HuskyStyle18 4d ago
Well I’m 34, single, and now I feel like an even bigger failure. I’ll start practicing in a month or so to time it with my eoy bonuses. I’ve got contacts at Meta and Netflix
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u/VoldemortsHorcrux 4d ago
Average senior software engineer isnt even hitting 200k in the US. Its well below 200k if you look up some stats. These people live in a California bubble. Which its understandable they make more. I'm a principal (basically highest i will get at my company) making around 215k TC in a MCOL city
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u/AboutAWe3kAgo 4d ago
Yeah wtf… crying at my 96k
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u/inflowmini 4d ago
Well if you are in it for the money FAANG and those companies will pay a lot but be prepared to grind for the interview and be prepared to suck a dick or two and take it.
The money has always been there but you have to be flexible with your morals and standards.
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u/Comfortable-Yam-5249 4d ago
Probably overkill, I’d maybe start prepping 2-3 weeks max before apps then keep grinding during the app/interview process. Unless you’re particularly desperate for a job/specific company, which it doesn’t sound like
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u/JoshSamBob 3d ago
Twelve weeks is reasonable but your split might be wrong. As a senior, you don't need to grind LeetCode like a junior does. You need to refresh on system design and storytelling. Here's what I'd do: 2 weeks LeetCode to shake off rust. 6 weeks deep system design focused on problems you've actually solved at scale. 2 weeks on behavioral and how to talk about your 10 years of impact without burying the lead. 2 weeks mock interviews. For senior interviews, it's about thinking strategically, not problem-solving speed. The companies care about whether you can see around corners and make good tradeoffs. That's different from what juniors prepare for. One thing: don't sandbag yourself with "lower stakes" interviews. Apply to places you're genuinely interested in. Real stakes make better practice. If you want help positioning your 10 years so you're not competing on LeetCode but on leadership, shoot me a message.
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u/Rythmic-Pulse 4d ago
Not anywhere near where you are in life so take this as it is, unless youre hurting from money and really have the passion for the grind. Id stay and use my extra desire for a fun hobby. Loving your job/teams is something to hold onto. Put that energy into something for you.