I think several people mentioned this separately: Yes I agree there are no shortage of people with CS degree the question is 1) Can they code their way out of

I think several people mentioned this separately: Yes I agree there are no shortage of people with CS degree the question is 1) Can they code their way out of an interview. Turns out many people can’t, even though they held a “senior” title in another company. They can’t solve a simple linked list problem 2) Living cost of where the company is hiring 100K in Atlanta goes farther than 120K in SF or in Seattle. I can rent a 2 bedroom town house in a good neighborhood in Atlanta for 1200$ Vs. you MAY be able to find a 1 bedroom apartment in Seattle for 1700$ – 2000$. 3) Some companies have very unrealistic expectations, they want a person with all the experience in the world, which is just not gonna happen. Personally if I am looking at a candidate I will look at how he approaches a problem, I will throw him some curve-balls and if he can handle it they he will be fine. We are in a world where the technology changes rapidly, a tech/language/skill-set that is popular today might not worth a dime tomorrow. If you learned how to learn and adapt you will be fine.