[rvz]

> Am I truly underpaid or is it really just the FAANGS making that much in senior roles?

The difference with FAANG is that they have stock upside plus $300K+ cash.

$230K and no stock upside? You need to leave right now.

It does not matter how much money you are making, what people in jobs never understand is that you will NOT get that time back again.

> 2. It seems like a crazy time to look for a new job. Everyone seems to be using AI to apply, having their resume vetted by AI and most of the roles being ghost roles. Is anyone actually getting a job? I use AI daily so I see the benefit a tool but it seems like the landscape is bleak

Don't. use. AI. on. your. resume.

It will be tossed onto the pile like all the rest of them and it is not a way to stand out which is the goal of getting hired.

> 3. I'm a male and I feel like I dedicated so much of my life to work that I don't have a lot of friends outside of work, which has really made things feel like I missed out on a lot of the world.

Then your first task is to do some networking and build projects that make money.

[Aurornis]

> $230K and no stock upside? You need to leave right now.

$230K is already high compensation. "Leave right now" is useless advice because it's not an actual goal, it's just a hint to be angry or unhappy. You have to look for other jobs that pay higher first, actually pass interviews to get offers, and then decide if the stress-to-pay ratio at the new job is worth the change.

[rvz]

> $230K is already high compensation.

Yet he is still complaining and is unhappy. So as long as the OP is working for someone else no amount is ever enough, he still loses more time at work.

> You have to look for other jobs that pay higher first, actually pass interviews to get offers, and then decide if the stress-to-pay ratio at the new job is worth the change.

Hopefully he is prepared for lots of Leetcode puzzles to even be considered and competing against thousands of 20-30 somethings that have a lot more time, and that's the first hurdle. It's up to him to decide if that is worth the stress.

Or, he could start a business from one of his own projects that makes a lot more than his own yearly salary and the best part is that he works on his own terms.

Making more than $230k+ a year stress free is exactly what he is looking for and I guarantee you that no "9-5 job" exists that pays more without the additional stress and loss of time.

[pavel_lishin]

OP is complaining about spending so much time at work that he doesn't have any friends, and your advice is to work more and harder?

[rvz]

I'm telling him to know his own worth and build projects for himself that make money. If he is that good he can build a startup.

Instead of wasting it at companies that can replace him with another worker or one with an AI agent.

You said it youself "spending so much time at work" when the alternative is for him to work for himself and save that time for other things. So my response still stands:

It does not matter how much money you are making, what people in jobs never understand is that you will NOT get that time back again.