Wow. Sorry about all that. I can't speak to your personal experience, but I'll stand by my experience that the salary is lowball. I would take that sort of lis

Wow. Sorry about all that. I can't speak to your personal experience, but I'll stand by my experience that the salary is lowball. I would take that sort of listing as a signal that the employer doesn't really know much about market rate for engineers (or maybe hiring engineers in general). It's possible that you're seeing a lot of that sort of employer in your job search. If you're in NYC, I think a good tactic for a person trying to "break in" to the industry is to attend meetups for tech you're interested in. As you meet people and ask about their jobs, you'll get a feel for which employers are hiring for your expertise. And you might pick up some recommendations or relevant open-source experience, even, which would help in getting a decent offer. I'll also say that NYC is a rough city for breaking into tech. Rent's a lot cheaper in other cities. The jobs there can vary in sexiness, but an ultra-lowball pay rate is much more humane in a cheaper city. But even there, a ultra-low pay rate should be tolerated only long enough to prove, on your resume, that you are employable as a replacement-level warm body in tech work.