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I have 3 years of experience. What should I prioritize in my career at this moment?

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Mid-Level Software Engineer at Taro Community4 months ago

I have 3 years of experience working as a backend developer.

I rejected 2 offers because the salary rise was about 12% and I expect at least 30% salary rise.

And this brought a doubt in my head. That is, if at this moment should I be looking for more money or more knowledge, expand my network, or what should I be prioritizing.

Please, help.

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Discussion

(3 comments)
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    Eng @ Taro
    4 months ago

    You can do all of the above :)

    For a more substantial increase, you'll probably be looking for a promotion, either internally, or externally.

    You can uplevel your current knowledge by working on projects with more scope. When you get these projects under your belt, you'll be able to interview externally to show that you have senior-level scope. You'll also be on track to be promoted internally if the external interviews don't work out. So, you can work on two parallel paths to increase your total comp.

    When you are working on projects with more scope, you'll be interacting with people across different teams. When they leave the company, and they had a good experience with you, they'll probably reach out to you for opportunities, too.

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    Tech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
    4 months ago

    At this stage, you should be optimizing for learning, which largely translates to the quality of the team around you. Ideally, growing your skills as an engineer grows your pay as well (it's a lagging indicator if you play your cards right).

    So if you're already getting offers, I heavily recommend going through the negotiation course: [Course] The Insider's Guide To Negotiating Your Tech Salary And Compensation

    If there's opportunity to learn at your current job, I recommend pushing for promotion (you can do this in parallel with your job search): [Course] Nail Your Promotion As A Software Engineer

    Lastly, use the resources here to find a good team: [Taro Top 10] How To Find A Good Engineering Team And Company

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    Tech Lead/Manager at Meta, Pinterest, Kosei
    4 months ago

    The inputs for your career are a lot more than just YoE! Think about:

    • your current company's growth
    • the people you work with
    • the technology you work with
    • do you enjoy the work?
    • what's happening in your personal life?