[eschneider]

I interviewed from Jan-Feb pretty much as a full time job. Lots of applications out, maybe 5-10 well-researched applications a day which yielded one or two interviews a day for that time period. Three went to offers and I'm pretty sure I could have closed a few more if I hadn't taken the job I did.

I've done everything from UI to cloud to embedded stuff, but I was mostly focusing on embedded roles thinking that a) I like that sort of work and b) the competition wouldn't be as bad, though Amazon did layoff a lot of device folk in my geographic area.

Salary expectations seemed to be a big thing at companies, and I'd expect that FAANG folks looking to find that sort of compensation at smaller companies are likely to be disappointed or possibly even weeded out at the start.

That said, some companies are definitely low-balling but most seem willing to pay around 'market rate' for folks. I took a slight step-down in pay, but I like what I'm working on and the people and the companies that we offering more money we're offering enough more to overcome that.

[abeppu]

> most seem willing to pay around 'market rate' for folks

What does this mean? What do the quotes mean?

This seems to be nearly a tautology; the market rate is what people are willing to pay.

[eschneider]

It means that when companies would ask me what my salary expectations were, I'd tell them I was looking for something "market rate". Exactly those words. I'd often follow up by asking "Do you have a range in mind for this position?" and go from there.

At that point I've answered their salary question and probably not scared them off and if they really want to put a number on it, it's up to them. At this stage, if they don't have a range or just won't say, it tells you a bit about them.