I’m job searching right now, and it’s definitely not the doom and gloom that I’m hearing about.

I think it’s a challenging environment for developers who are either inexperienced or who have skills that are out of date. I have found that companies are a bit more picky than i remember about knowing the exact tech stack they use, but they are still making offers and those offers are pretty good.

Note that I’m applying mostly to mid-sized non-public companies. I’m not sure what it’s like applying to MAANG-types right now.

I'm in loops at multiple FAANGs right now and it's not even that bad. Feels similar to when I did this last time? But I do get the impression that they're all just throwing out any resumes that don't already have a FAANG on them. If you're already in the club then it's ok, but I think it's harder than ever to join the club so to speak.

this is EXACTLY where everyone should be applying… too many people are nuts to work at faang, I can live 50 lifetimes and never understand it.

When the FAANGs stocks were soaring and they handed out options like candy, even low level devs at those tech companies were making the kind of money usually reserved for medical doctors and attorneys. There was a huge gulf between SV pay and pretty much everywhere else.

Now, those companies have mostly lost the luster they used to have, and the comp differences aren't as large.

The last time any faang gave options to low level employees was probably 2009 or earlier

For me, it was. Couldn't find anything for 4 months, and suddenly I had 3 offers. It often works out like that. It's as if companies suddenly smell you've become desirable or something.