I've been working on computer vision algorithms for years and moved to current work a couple of years ago. At my current company, my expertise is not company's main interest. There are only few people with the same expertise in the company. It is not the best place to practice my technical expertise. The problem is, I live in UK and there are only few other companies in my field who can pay equal or better than my current TC. Recently, I applied for few positions to go back to development and done 3 on-site interviews in past 5 months, Amazon, Meta and Snap, equivalent to E6/L6 positions. The feedback came back all the same, they don't feel I fit for the required level. It is not that I bombed the interview, rather I lack a bit for the level. I feel like I've got rusty in my skills in past couple of years. There are few other companies I can apply to but I know they can't match my current salary. I'm not sure whether I need to move to other companies, even if I get paid 10~15% less, to keep up with my expertise, or stay at current job. I have a family to support so reducing income is very hard but I don't want to get more rusty. Probably the best option is to apply again to those companies after cool down period? 12 YOE, G6, TC £145K
Can confirm. Meta e5 is above 200k gbp in London.
Big us investment banks can beat your TC. Big tech can far exceed your TC.(even at lvl5) All hedge funds in the UK can beat by far your TC. Tier 2 tech companies can probably offer your current TC. i.e. you have many options ( with easier system design round as well) Good luck
Thanks for the tips. The trouble with investment banks are they don’t do much computer vision.
I hear that, was mainly a comment assuming you are good going back to just dev as your mentioned.
I’m pretty sure even if you downlevel at those three companies, the pay would be higher than your current tc. Did they offer to lower you to E5?
Nope, Meta and Amazon asked to reapply after cooldown
I guess you can use this cooldown to prepare, leetcode. Good luck!