Should I even bother looking for higher TC given the job market?
TC 165k 5+ yoe Crazy stable job security. I think you’d have to be literally dead to get fired from Booz. No layoffs in sight ever. Super easy WLB. HCOL area but HH TC is 375k. I’d have to do a lot of studying and grinding LC to prepare and that’s even assuming I get any interviews. Mostly backend/ Data engineer and cloud. Devops and ML knowledge too. I have family and stuff so job stability is kinda important. Also FWIW i’m working on a masters but the only point of the masters is pretty much to make more money but i’d probably have to trade doing Masters for leet code etc.
Chaos is a ladder
I'm in a very similar position (5 YoE, ~$170k TC, unbelievable WLB and job security). It really just doesn't seem like enough money, especially because my wife's doing her PhD so she's only making $30k/year for the next 3 years. Super conflicted because where we live is pretty high CoL (NH), but if I risk it for a higher-paying job with potential recession and more layoffs potentially down the line, we could be totally fucked.
If we are in tech golden days, I may advise you to try other opportunities. Nowadays, no, too much efforts for interview and unknown new job security, not worth it in my opinion. Unless you have toxic manager that you have to leave.
Which role? Can you refer me at Booz?
Why not try and create a biz on the side during this economy and try to switch when economy is better
Not everyone wants to create or own a business. OP stated the WLB is great and he probably enjoys that
OP is saying they're already doing masters which is also an investment of their extra time. My point is side biz is better ROI than masters
Enjoy stability. There’s so much more to life than chasing TC.
This is it ^