Tldr: depressed only got 200k when others have more, how to deal with that fact?
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I accepted an offer in the bay for ~200k a few months ago as a new grad. At the time I was excited, my first real full time job and well over 6 figures! (Although I've checked blind for almost 3 years and seen better offers, the excitement was still there for a while.)
However over the past few months I constantly feel depressed knowing there are others with 1.1-2x this TC as new grads. Even seeing another offer on here or discord that is 10k higher than what I had makes my stomach churn - what if I could have done better, went to a better school or negotiated more or been more proactive or networked, etc. Hell, even seeing random people with brag posts about their lineup of prestigious companies they're interning at irritates me and makes me anxious
Most of my friends and family call me entitled and arrogant as they are from different occupations where 200k would be unbelievable for a new grad and they don't understand, but when other people with the same skillset and work/interviewing capabilities are making more than you, wouldn't you feel frustrated too, and even jealous or depressed when you know you could've gotten where they are, given the chance ?
For example my friend at jane street/citadel is set to make twice what I make this year, and nearly the only difference between us is he went to a better school and got an interview and I didn't. Obviously I'm jealous, but put on a smile and say congrats bro when in my mind I feel like shit and self deprecate
"Just be grateful for what you have", is what I get told a lot, especially with covid this year ( which actually did not affect hiring for companies last fall so not really relevant for a lot of new grads at safe companies), but how can I not be jealous of people like my friend above when I could've been in their shoes too?
Anyways I've been interviewing recently and been more depressed due to lack of interview responses and only getting offers lower than or equal to my current tc.
I've worked so hard in interview practice and developing as a swe, it just hurts to see all my effort amounted to nothing, not even deserving of the top compensation, not even worth mentioning or bragging about. It's like studying countless hours for an exam and you only got a B when there are a handful of others that got A's, like grinding 20+ hours/week with your soccer team and only getting a participation trophy when some other soccer team got gold trophies, like training an insane amount for a marathon and not even being one of the first to finish (all true personal stories btw)
I've seen some people share this sentiment of "lagging behind" in the rat race, so I thought I'd share my thoughts and ask for how to deal with them as I've been pretty unhappy recently as a 21 yo new grad with an average TC (maybe below average even).
I do try to distract myself from these work and career thoughts but anytime I open up my work laptop, linkedin, blind, or any news or social media, they come rushing back into my head.
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PS: and your handle is “only 200”? Jesus man
I feel severely lowballed at this point(50-60k at least) and have only been recently inspired to make a difference so working towards getting out.