Comment by lostcolony
5 years ago
So while some employers require X years of (specific tech), many, MANY don't. They expect X years of development. Broadly. Can program and are AWS certified? Start looking. And if there's nothing in your area, look remote. You can hit that salary and solid benefits (no pension) in most metro areas (I hit it with 5 years dev experience, and only a bachelor's, back in 2015 in Atlanta, for a non-tech company).
You are almost assuredly more desirable in this market than you think. Consider making finding a new job your new hobby.
Glassdoor's market rate/comp tool says I'm actually making market rate for the area. One major downside to switching is that it involves more time to come up to speed, like putting in extra hours. I can't really commit to that because I have to watch my kid as soon as i log off of work (after 8 hours).
Glassdoor's tool is not very useful I've found. It only even somewhat works for salary, since it doesn't require bonus or equity incentives (which is sufficient in some markets, not others), leading to deflation of total comp. It also doesn't track things like overall years of experience, or how long a person has been in a position. All of those matter, as internal raises have tended not to match the market's increase; the lower end of the market is filled with people who have been in their position a long time, the upper end of the market is people who have job hopped recently, style of thing.
The past couple of jobs I've had I came in at the upper end of Glassdoor's reported salary, for the specific company even, even when I had relatively few years in the role, and without negotiation on my part. And Glassdoor didn't at all represent bonus and equity properly. Levels.fyi did a much better job of it (but has fewer data points for non-tech companies).
I have never worked extra hours to come up to speed (and in general haven't put in extra hours, though I've sometimes had to work weird schedules due to working with people across timezones), and have pretty consistently been a high performer.
I'd still recommend just doing some searching. Worst case, you validate that your current comp is the best you can get. Mediocre case, you find you could get paid better, but not doing anything you feel comfortable taking. Best case, you find something that is interesting and exciting and will pay you better.
"I have never worked extra hours to come up to speed (and in general haven't put in extra hours"
What kind of job do you have? I thought extra hours were normal in tech?
I have looked around. This area (Philly region) seems to be pretty terrible for tech jobs. There are some higher paying ones, but they tend to be niche.
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