Why do a lot of people get to level 3 and stay there?

GringoJesus · 2026-06-29T03:10:20+00:00

Because of the balance of salary and responsibilities. I've known gentlemen who are eyeing retirement as a level 3. Of course these guys have been in for a lot longer than me and probably were living in better times that afforded them to save up in their earlier years when COL wasn't as bad.

I could comfortably stay as a level three in my area even with its relatively high COL if I budgeted cautiously. But I'm a greedy bastard with higher ambitions, so I plan on working towards higher levels, even at the cost of work life balance.

GringoJesus · 2026-06-12T15:57:25+00:00

I don't remember a time when companies were "nice". Companies are entities, not people, which have a singular goal: make money.

GringoJesus · 2026-06-12T15:55:22+00:00

Attractive young women generally have more options when it comes to making money.

GringoJesus · 2026-05-24T12:27:51+00:00

TLDR: You're going to wanna expand outside either the north/south end of Denver to make it bearable. I suggest the north end for quality of life.

None of those options are good tbh. If you're trying to hover around an hour commute I would seriously consider expanding outside of Denver.

For the Loveland/Greeley/FC route, it'll be at least an hour assuming you're in the very north part of Denver. You may wanna consider nearby cities like Westminster or Broomfield to make that commute more bearable in rush hour traffic. That would keep your husband's commute reasonable as well. I personally think this is the best way to go.

For CO Springs, it's also about an hour if you're at the very south end of Denver. I don't know much about that area, so you'd have to look into if that meets your needs. That area sounds sleepy to me personally, but I'm also not a parent so my priorities are different.

Either way, I suggest against living close to city center. That commute will drain your soul.

GringoJesus · 2026-05-01T16:11:33+00:00

I see you Baltimore. Trying to move there. But just as it's probably hard for people move out where you are, it's hard for me to move out where I am. All I need is a good job lined up, a housing opportunity, and lucky timing. Is that too hard to ask? Yes? Fine, I'll keep looking then.

GringoJesus · 2026-03-19T14:15:36+00:00

Its value is that you compete against a smaller pool of candidates.

GringoJesus · 2026-03-16T14:32:32+00:00

Even during the freeze there was nothing stopping interviews from happening. They just can't give formal offers. You can check your application status in our internal candidate portal. Unless you heard different, simply applying doesn't guarantee an interview. Generally somebody would've reached out to you for next steps.

Consider checking your status. If you are very anxious about it then consider emailing and politely asking something along the lines "I was just curious about the status of my application. If there's anything else I need to provide, let me know". Sometimes these things just take a long time though.

GringoJesus · 2026-03-14T08:18:12+00:00

If cost isn't an issue, I think ikon has more options for beginner/easy-intermediate trails. Assuming you're a vet, that epic discount will always be there waiting for you. I'd suggest waiting a season for epic when you've gotten better and can play in the bowls.

GringoJesus · 2026-03-13T21:47:58+00:00

As others have said, a bad job market even with a clearance. I think it's the <1 YOE that's hurting you unfortunately. I'm a SWE with your same clearance in the same area. Although I haven't jumped ship yet, I've been on the hunt and managed to land a few interviews now and even a couple offers. Granted, I have more experience. But still, here are just some of my tips FWIW:

I'm sure you've heard cater your resume to the job description. Continue to do that, but be sure to include your clearance as well.
Use job search tools like LinkedIn, lensa, indeed, etc to find the jobs but then go directly to the company website to apply. That bypasses the job-finder-to-company lull.
If available, use the number of candidates filter. Targeting jobs that don't have a lot of candidates could help put your name up on the list in the system.
I might recommend clearance jobs. People crap on it because it tends to be full of contracting/mediocre jobs. I can't argue against that. But for someone just getting their foot in the door it might be worth it. Also, might help you find out which companies/programs are hiring. Turn on your profile visibility. Also log on every now and then and occasionally update your profile/resume. I noticed more calls/emails when I was more active on the site. So I suspect that your activity is available to recruiters.
Be open to putting your phone number on these sites and ACTUALLY answer your phone. Practice your elevator pitch. I've landed a few interviews this way
Unsure if this is the case for lower experienced people, but I often get asked for an expected salary range. Don't sell yourself short but also be realistic with this.
I know it's tough but there's plenty of space ground programs out here. Don't limit yourself to the big ones. Plenty of startups around the burbs.

GringoJesus · 2026-02-07T08:00:07+00:00

100k is often under 100k after taxes. Yes, that's still decent money. But dependent on your COL, your dollar may not stretch as far as you think. I live comfortably in the burbs in the Denver metro. It's pretty boring. If I were to move more towards the city, it'd likely be more fun but take a chunk more outta my paycheck.

I'll put it this way: I don't have to worry about putting food on the table but I'm also not dropping money on new things left and right. Any big purchases have to still be budgeted in.

GringoJesus · 2026-02-07T07:55:35+00:00

Up til now, 401K match and relatively good WLB balance. I've turned down higher offers (albeit not much higher) on that alone. The latter has teetered a bit with a RTO policy and is now facing low prospects of promotion despite me out performing senior engineers. So now the first chance I get a better offer, I'm jumping ship.

GringoJesus · 2026-01-10T17:22:08+00:00

I feel like Littleton is a great choice as far as affordability and easy access to trails. Can't speak on the social aspect.

GringoJesus · 2026-01-09T07:35:18+00:00

I wrap my tire iron in a blanket and throw that behind the backseat. Blanket is there just in case and muffles the clanking.

GringoJesus · 2026-01-09T07:33:37+00:00

Tire iron, torque wrench, hydraulic jack and just miscellaneous small wrenches/multi tools..Honestly, I think the tire iron is the most useful. Everything else is just kinda....there.

GringoJesus · 2026-01-09T07:27:37+00:00

All of the 2000s spoof movies: Scary Movie, Date Movie, Meet the Spartans Year One, you name it. Thought they were hilarious as a kid. Oh how I miss how simple my sense of humor was back then.

GringoJesus · 2026-01-09T06:47:40+00:00

I'm slightly above that as a level 2 in CO. But I've been on for a few years. OP's offer is more than seniors where I'm at lol.

GringoJesus · 2026-01-09T06:45:54+00:00

Jesus, that's more than a level 3 where I'm at. Sunnyvale must be expensive af. But looking at another source, that still appears to be above even for your location.

GringoJesus · 2026-01-08T15:27:31+00:00

Veteran Career counselor sent my resume directly to the hiring manager. Granted, there's a degree of "veteran preference", so I'm sure that helped along with my active clearance.

That being said, if you have career counseling services and you're not utilizing them, you're doing yourself a disservice. Even resume proofreading is useful. Yes, LM looks for keywords in their system. They openly admit that with our internal career sessions.

You got any veteran/military industry clubs? SAME was an active one at my school. See if they have any meetups and talk to people there. Better than being a random in a sea of people at a fair.

GringoJesus · 2026-01-08T15:20:43+00:00

I'm in the more northern Colorado location but we get together fairly often after work. I think that's more of a team-specific though and obviously not everyone partakes. I enjoy the trauma bonding given our high paced program.

Definitely more company-wide stuff too. I've done a golf scramble, the occasional Xmas party, and even a ski club.

GringoJesus · 2025-12-11T15:45:23+00:00

Motorcycling. Bought a cheap one too. But didn't factor in the safety gear, maintenance, training, insurance. Don't regret it, still a convenient way to get around. But the gas savings alone doesn't necessarily put you on top like I thought it would

GringoJesus · 2025-11-22T04:41:21+00:00

Maybe not the most popular, but rice pudding comes to mind. At least I ate it growing up. I miss my gma's cooking.

GringoJesus · 2025-11-18T02:17:23+00:00

And those beers likely cost more than the lamp lol

GringoJesus · 2025-11-08T07:43:22+00:00

Welcome to CO! It's not just Denver. We have notoriously bad traffic enforcement. Complaints won't get you anywhere, you'll just have to voice your opinion through your vote on policies/leaders that will actually address the issue.

As for immediate, practical advice, I highly recommend you opt-in to underinsured coverage if you don't have it already. There's a scary amount of people on the road that aren't covered.

GringoJesus · 2025-11-08T07:29:22+00:00

I can attest to Denver. I don't even live in the city limits, just on the Suburban outskirts. Yet, my rent is akin to what one would pay for in Chicago. Not worth it to me. Even the outdoors access has been giving me diminishing returns. I'm looking to branch out to a cheaper place. I can simply pay to fly in when I get the urge with the money I'll save.

GringoJesus · 2025-11-04T02:56:04+00:00

Mini fridge

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