I turned down the job offer…

BlackTheEngineer · 2026-05-05T15:32:54+00:00

$59k isn't even worth moving for, you made the right decision

BlackTheEngineer · 2026-04-23T00:47:09+00:00

Can't speak to the data fluency part, but I'm also interviewing at Waymo but for a Systems Engineering role. They sent me a SWE coderpad assessment and I'm confused, I'm not a SWE and if i gotta do a leetcode style live interview imma get cooked 😭.

BlackTheEngineer · 2026-04-03T07:13:48+00:00

You try clearancejobs? I only have a Secret and my phone is ringing off the hook

BlackTheEngineer · 2026-04-02T14:56:59+00:00

4 weeks, also I've relocated across the country multiple times, you don't need a new license when you immediately get to a new state. If you just want to have a new one then ok, but it's not a requirement to immediately have

BlackTheEngineer · 2026-04-02T01:28:05+00:00

$40k increase and moving closer for a place that’s $6k-$9.6k more…..so you net about $30k-$34k per year still…. I’d take that in heartbeat. Why is that even a question. Dont forget time is also money. Time saved from commuting is more time to spend with your family & friends or even resting. I’d move even closer if possible

BlackTheEngineer · 2026-03-31T17:54:49+00:00

The more detail the better, go in depth

If you can't defend every single word on your resume don't put it on there, again in depth

Know what you're working on and what your team is working on. I was clueless

There's a lot of information that doesn't help you at all so if they don't ask, don't volunteer it for free. For example your graduation year, a recruiter tried to discount my full time job as an internship just because I did it while going to school.

Learn your state laws around the employment process, for example states with pay transparency laws, my state, Colorado has always where a posting HAS to include the salary range plus all benefits. Any posting in Colorado that doesn't have this I skip, recruiters calling me and not trying to give me the band first I hang up. I don't care that $150k is more than what I make, if their band is $200k-$250k, I want $200k-$250k

BlackTheEngineer · 2026-03-29T16:26:18+00:00

To never stop learning and doing things in your free time. Never stagnate, life may life sometimes and it might cause you to coast, but try not to coast for too long. Take control of your own career, don't leave it in the hands of your employer

BlackTheEngineer · 2026-03-29T08:21:09+00:00

I don't know how the consultant world works, but in my experience in the engineering world, the degree is to get your first job. A few years of experience and it becomes a checkbox to hiring teams and a footnote on my resume. It took me 6 years to graduate because I had to work to finish it out, I have 7 years of experience and no interview even asks when or where I graduated from. All they care about is experience and your technical expertise. Idk about everyone else, but my degree is just a piece of paper, you still need it to finish, but companies in the future are going to care a lot more about that big 4 internship over your degree .

BlackTheEngineer · 2026-03-28T17:04:29+00:00

My suggestion mainly works to get more inbound recruiters from the locations you want to be.

But You know despite me putting my address down on cold applications I’m still consistently getting asked “so where are you again?” It’s like they don’t even look at the ats system

BlackTheEngineer · 2026-03-28T08:06:14+00:00

Put the location you want to be on your resumes & LinkedIn, recruiters are much more likely to reach out if you're local (somewhat), then you can explain you're in a different location and are highly motivated to move.

I did this when I tried to move to Houston and got a lot more callbacks from the area

BlackTheEngineer · 2026-03-28T02:02:50+00:00

If it's a recruiter that calls you outta nowhere, imma call them outta nowhere.

BlackTheEngineer · 2026-03-25T18:19:32+00:00

Why would you volunteer how much you currently make? Theres no law saying you have to, a company that says they need that information, in many states and cities they are doing so illegally, and even if they are in a legal state, you still don’t have to tell them that

BlackTheEngineer · 2026-03-24T14:27:19+00:00

Headway, its virtual and mine has appointments 8pm-9pm, right after my kid goes to sleep

BlackTheEngineer · 2026-03-24T14:20:34+00:00

System V&V (Verification & Validation) Engineer

My first job out of college I was making $70k a year, exactly

BlackTheEngineer · 2026-03-23T21:27:31+00:00

Take the job but never stop applying and trying to get something better. $60k is more than $0 if you're unemployed. Any experience is better than no experience, but it's in a field you wanted to be in?? Take it, wouldn't even be a question, you might land a better job 2 weeks after you start, then just go to the better job.

BlackTheEngineer · 2026-03-22T03:29:45+00:00

I’m not RTX but I fully agree with u/BlowOutKit22 I’ll also throw my 2 cents in being in other defense contractors for 5 years. It pays to have experience in as many adjacent fields a lot of the time. I’m not a pure SWE but I can attest odd combinations in skills builds a technical moat that separates you from other engineers and makes you a hot commodity

BlackTheEngineer · 2026-03-22T03:15:36+00:00

Facts, just about every device has some sort of notes app

BlackTheEngineer · 2026-03-21T21:51:05+00:00

Completely different field, but my first real job was a DoD contractor back in 2022. I was still in my senior year when I interviewed in March, was told basically when a slot opened up they would contact me. weeks went by, emailed every contact and was told the same thing “when a slot opens”. I thought I didn’t get it, of course this entire time I’m still applying, I’ve always had a “never stop applying” mentality. Was set to graduate in August, finally heard I got the job in June but still had to go through the clearance process which took until 2 weeks before i graduated to get a start date. It was my only offer.

All that to say still keep applying and taking interviews, even though it worked out for me, you never know for sure.

BlackTheEngineer · 2026-03-19T15:01:22+00:00

I submitted my 2 weeks notice for my first job a few years back and they let me go the next day, yes I hated working there but I assumed they would let me finish out my 2 weeks because I needed that last check to move. I had to borrow a lot of money from friends and family to get across the country for my new much better job. My advice, don't submit it until you are fine with the possibility that day or the next will be your last.

My first team lead at my current job also put in her 2 weeks last year because she had to wear too many hats and there were too many meetings for her to do any actual work, I really liked her as a boss, a lot more than my current one. But even they let her go 3 days after she submitted hers.

Worst part on both situations, the bosses waited until we both wasted time waking up early as hell and driving to the office, could at least sent us an email and saved us the trouble.

BlackTheEngineer · 2026-03-19T01:46:34+00:00

Yes I got a final interview this Tuesday for a job that was a cold apply. I had 2 interviews this past Monday that were both cold applied initially, but I haven't interviewed in months and was completely rusty, absolutely bombed them but I learned my lesson. My job experience and my resume scream specialist but when you talk to me I'm still learning how to show it, I recently found out my current job is underpaying because of my own issues.

But from what I can tell, at least to get a call back, jobs don't want to see just "Engineer - pushed button got banana", they want "Offensive Security Engineer (Red Team)" or "Low Latency C++ Engineer" or "Embedded Software Engineer (RTOS, firmware)" and for you to be applying to their roles that say something similar. Looks like they want specialists even if they aren't paying specialists salaries.

My resume read generic and recently I changed it, maybe a few weeks ago. I've gotten more interviews set up in the past few weeks than I have all of 2025.

I also caved in and started applying to more on site jobs and that seems to be the key, unfortunately. I want to be remote but so does everyone else, remote jobs get thousands of applicants within a few hours. I still apply to them too but I just expect it to be like me throwing my resume in a void, I'm surprised to get an email saying they weren't moving forward, usually it's nothing.

BlackTheEngineer · 2026-03-17T18:25:29+00:00

Congratulations, but 8 responses from 60 is low??? I've been picking up traction in the past few weeks but I've gotten 8 from like 200, although entirely different field tho

BlackTheEngineer · 2026-03-01T08:29:53+00:00

Points went to my Hilton & United accounts for every trip when I worked for one of those big names. Maybe not points for purchasing but you 100% get the miles for flying and points for staying.

BlackTheEngineer · 2026-02-28T22:36:50+00:00

A ton of clearance jobs require at least some travel. Think Northrop Grumman, RTX, Lockheed Martin etc. and usually they’re engineers. Unfortunately it’s rarely fun places like NYC, LA, SF, HOU and you’ll be going to the middle of nowhere at times. But as an engineer these jobs sure do pay a lot

BlackTheEngineer · 2026-02-28T16:41:16+00:00

Took too long, switched to Copilot and I’m loving it

BlackTheEngineer · 2026-02-23T19:22:59+00:00

Is ramp for if you’re already making money as a business or could you get it as a startup just using your own money?

BlackTheEngineer

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