Where to interview for uplevel to sde2

It's finally close to the time I'd like to jump ship, I'm on H1B looking to start interviewing in a couple of months.

L4 -> L5 Promo WIP at Amazon too, manager left earlier and it got delayed, but currently seems like in the worst case it should be done by Q2 (promo in July, ~ 3 yoe by then). My skip manager said he's inclined in 1:1, but I don't see the new manager giving proper traction for Q1.

Does it make any sense to wait for promo here first? I'm looking to get upleveled roles (L5 equivalent) in the companies I apply to. I want to cast a wide net for better chances, but I'm quite illiterate when it comes to the best companies to apply to outside of MAANG, will probably look at backend/fullstack roles.

Any advice is appreciated!

Level: L4 (Amazon)
Yoe: 2.5
TC: 🍌 140K

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