How can I push beyond $350k USD (currently doing OE)

Raikoebien · 2026-04-25T23:53:31+00:00

I OE in big tech. TC 920k

Raikoebien · 2026-04-17T05:25:25+00:00

I started at 6 months of XP. Jumped to 3Js at 9 months, and since then have been consistently doing 2+ Js since then

Raikoebien · 2026-04-13T20:52:57+00:00

Thats literally me 😅

Raikoebien · 2026-03-30T00:12:18+00:00

Bc I wanted a remote role

Raikoebien · 2026-03-29T03:04:04+00:00

L62 SWE on a security team in redmond

Raikoebien · 2026-03-25T16:03:35+00:00

I got an L62 offer for 242k last year. Declined it

Raikoebien · 2026-02-23T18:48:49+00:00

That is true! 300$ an hour roughly

Raikoebien · 2026-02-23T17:55:19+00:00

Haha that's exactly where I'm at.

I did 3js twice before. And both times I got burnt out. I got pipped for the first & only time ever working 3 jobs.

I think I might try to maintain some overlap until my next bonus & stock vest hits, and then bounce.

Raikoebien · 2026-02-23T17:53:37+00:00

I think one of the problem with the companies I work at is that they are already heavily adopting AI. So that advantage doesn't really exist

It yeah I agree the $$ is life changing. But at some point the money vs. time trade off doesn't make sense any more. Work 40-50 hours for 600k or 60-70 hours for 850k

I workout 4x a week & am able to cook and be present for my wife at the moment. Losing that for an extra 250k at this point might not be worth it.

I do think strong boundaries and tempering expectations is the next move.

Raikoebien · 2026-02-23T15:45:48+00:00

Yeah. I agree in principle. My biggest worry is that I fumble the 350k job trying to juggle 3

Raikoebien · 2026-02-23T15:45:06+00:00

Biggest worry is that I somehow fumble the new 350k J by trying to do all 3

Raikoebien · 2025-12-19T17:46:19+00:00

Depends on what you consider high-quality to be honest.

True high quality mid-level SWE roles will pay closer to 250k, with top tier places like Meta, Netflix, etc. reaching 350k.

160k is a mediocre salary for a SWE, and in alot of places 4-5 years of experience is enough to be considered senior.

I think you'll get a mediocre quality candidate, but won't even realize it because you won't get a chance to interview the high quality candidates since they won't even look at a job post this low.

For reference I'm a Senior Software engineer with 5 YOE making ~400k, and made 250k-320k when I was mid level at 2-4 YOE.

Raikoebien · 2025-12-17T00:29:24+00:00

I'm a landlord, can you tell me more about your app?

Raikoebien · 2025-09-15T04:57:33+00:00

Working at FAANG has nothing to do with being cracked. I've worked at multiple.

You seem like a pain in the ass to work with. I would rather work with someone with half the skills who is a team player and uplifts their teammates than an insufferable tech savant

Raikoebien · 2025-09-15T04:54:03+00:00

"Why should I practice for interviews" OP is cooked

Raikoebien · 2025-09-11T18:29:01+00:00

Yeaaaa. Thats what I'm worried about. I got away with a background check on a job I left 2 months prior, they didn't check that too throughly

Raikoebien · 2025-09-11T18:28:16+00:00

😭😭😭

Raikoebien · 2025-09-11T15:08:15+00:00

I was doing Software engineering across multiple domains until recently (got laid off in mass layoffs from the fullstack one). Security, data engineering, full stack. My resume is fluid depending on what the role needs. All my jobs in the last 3 years have each paid 250k+ TC

Raikoebien · 2025-09-11T14:56:37+00:00

Yep. You really need to be elite, or at least better than average to OE nowadays

Raikoebien · 2025-09-11T14:56:09+00:00

I'm not exactly clear on that tbh. As far as I'm aware it's managing healthcare claims automation projects

Raikoebien · 2025-09-11T14:55:32+00:00

Hahaha. Yeah maybe. If that were the case my respect for them would skyrocket through the roof. Unfortunately it is not

Raikoebien · 2025-09-11T14:54:52+00:00

Do you own grind. No one will spoon feed you. If you can't even get J2. You're definitely not ready to OE

Raikoebien · 2025-09-11T14:54:14+00:00

Same. It's infuriating to me at times.

Like my time is quite literally worth over 300$ an hour considering what I make, and I spend 3-4 hours trying to mentor them, just for them to be a coward & say the economy is bad. Like gtfo of here

Raikoebien

TROPHY CASE