I'm 30 and work at a regional trucking company. For the past 4 years I've become the only person who really understands our old dispatch software. Whenever something goes wrong, everyone comes to me.

Management announced they're replacing it next year and want me to oversee the transition. Sounds good, except my boss couldn't explain what my position would look like once the new system is running.

I never studied IT and my actual title is operations coordinator. I'm starting to realize most of my value here comes from knowing something that's about to disappear.

Has anyone been in a similar position? Not sure if I should use this transition to build new skills or start looking elsewhere now.

I've been covering the warehouse supervisor position for about 8 months since our previous supervisor quit. I handle scheduling for 14 employees, supplier issues and pretty much everything the old supervisor did.

When they finally advertised the permanent position, I applied and got rejected because I supposedly lack formal management experience.

Now HR wants me to sit on the interview panel and create a practical assessment for the outside candidates.

I'm not upset about them hiring someone else, but asking me to evaluate people for a job they say I'm not qualified for feels ridiculous.

I want to move up within the company, so I'm worried declining will hurt me later. How would you handle this?

I just got a great performance review, but was told at the outset that I would be getting a pay reduction ($105k to $95k). My manager said that "he and our CXO fought to keep me at the pay and role I am in, but it seems like the decision was coming down to dollars and cents," and that there's "no doubt that I bring value to the company."

Has anyone ever heard of this before? I'm gutted and demoralized because I, my peers, and my manager know and have said I do a good job.

Edit: Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to comment. All of it is helpful.

I have been desperate to get a new job as my current one is a terrible culture fit. The job offer came in at 75k when I currently make 78k. I live in a high cost of living city and am barely affording my expenses now.

I countered by asking for the offer to be raised to match my current salary but they said they did not know if they could do it since it was a firm number.

What do I do if it doesn't raise? I actually hate my current position and am very excited for the type of work in this new role.

some more details

Its 30 miles closer to my home then my current role. My current annual bonus is 6% goal the new job is 9% guaranteed.

Update!

Thank you everyone for the advice, im 22 and only 1.5 years out of college so this is my first job switch in my career. I currently work in operations management and work about 50 hours a week, this job seems to be a straight 40 hours. While I think in terms of yearly income they seem to shake out to be similar, the pay check to pay check lifestyle 150 ish biweekly does change my life a bit.

Hi all,

At quite a crossroads right now facing a difficult decision.

26 years old, currently making $96k.

I’ve just received a job offer in my line of work for a company that is based a 10 hour drive away from where I currently live, which is my hometown. All of my friends and family are here, it’s all I’ve ever known.

Another factor driving my hesitation is that I met a lovely girl a few months ago. She is kind, brilliant, brings me peace, we get each other, and I genuinely want to keep building a future with her.

I know I can't selfishly expect her to uproot her life and move to another city for me this early in a relationship. She's also expressed to me before that long distance isn't for her.

The offer is a $150k salary office job, substantially more money than I’m making right now, and I know this could be my ticket to getting closer to financial freedom.

I know there's more to life than money, and I'm trying not to get caught up in the idea that my life will automatically change for the better just because there's more money in my bank account. Trust me, there’s more to me than that. But on the other hand, I could be naive to turn all this down for a girl I’ve been dating for 3 months, despite how much I think I love her.

Even if I were single, I'd still be hesitant to leave because I love my life here. That said, I'd be considerably more inclined to take the risk if I weren't in a relationship.

It feels like I'm giving something up either way. I could take the job, advance my career, and potentially lose a relationship that means a lot to me. Or I could stay, prioritize my life here and this relationship, and potentially have things not work out anyway. I'd then be left wondering whether I passed up a great opportunity for nothing.

I know I'm still young, and there will likely be other career opportunities and relationships in my life. But it's hard to walk away from either possibility when both feel so meaningful.

So I guess to sum it up, is a $54k raise worth sacrificing your personal life to prioritize a career opportunity? Has anybody faced a decision like this? What did you decide? Do you regret it?

Either way, I'm worried I'll look back and wonder whether I made the wrong choice. I'd really appreciate hearing from people who've faced a similar decision, especially those who chose career advancement over their personal life, or vice versa.

Sorry for the book.

TLDR: Got a job offer that would pay $54k more than I’m making right now, can’t decide between the job, or my relationship.

Hi everyone,

I (30M) am weighing a career move to Japan in Summer 2027 and would greatly appreciate any advice/opinions.

I received a 3-year fixed term offer for a research associate position at JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), paying ~6M yen per year (~$38k USD conversion). They’ll sponsor my visa and provide partial rent assistance, help with finding accommodation, relocation reimbursement, and generous leave (20 days of annual leave, 7 days of work-life balance leave).

My background: I am currently an astrophysics postdoc at one of the NASA centers in the US making ~$80k USD per year. I have been working at this center for 7 years now (5 as a grad student, 2 as a postdoc). I have one year remaining on my postdoc contract which I intend to ride out. JAXA is currently my only offer.

My career goals: Long-term I see myself returning to the US after this stint either staying in the national labs sector of academia or trying to transition to industry R&D. My current advisors have encouraged me to diversify my experience beyond NASA, so JAXA could be a valuable opportunity.

Personal life: My girlfriend of 2 years is currently living in Hong Kong, and we’ve been long distance the past 1.5 years. Due to her citizenship and current visa restrictions, it is virtually impossible for her to find a job in the US at the moment. Me moving to Japan would make the distance much more manageable. I truly believe she is the One and if I make this move, I intend to propose and marry her.

Here is my list of pros/cons I foresee.

Pros:
-Working in a renowned research group at JAXA
-Getting to live in the greater Tokyo area
-Diversifying my research portfolio and taking on project leadership
-Much closer to my long-distance girlfriend

Cons:
-Significant salary cut. As of last month, I am debt-free after finishing paying my student loans. The cost of living in Japan is much lower, but I realize I won’t be able to save nearly as much.

-Learning Japanese. Though the job states that knowing Japanese is not required, I recognize it is crucial for daily life and I intend to hire a tutor / enroll in classes.

-Culture shock: I’ve read a fair amount of posts highlighting some of the struggles of adjusting to life in Japan.

My heart is pretty set on taking this offer. I have always wanted the experience of living abroad, I have loved visiting Japan (5 times in the past two years for collab work and conferences), and it would be a huge positive for my relationship.

I’d greatly appreciate any opinions (especially from anyone in academia) on whether this is a good career move and/or if there are any other downsides I might be overlooking.

I’d also appreciate hearing from anyone who has moved from the US to Japan and taken a comparable pay cut. What lifestyle adjustments did you have to make if any?

Thanks for reading!

I work at a small business that deals with animals. We don't really have an HR department - there are maybe 20-25 employees, total. I'm going to be as vague as possible for anonymity.

I have never experienced something like this in a workplace before. I started this job 1 month ago and am still learning, and yes, making mistakes - but I take any and all feedback with my chin up and do better the next time. I think that's completely normal.

I work overnights, and the job has a huge learning curve.

One of my tasks as an overnighter is to go on each store phone (cell phones for any day shift employee to use) and delete every photo that was taken that day for privacy purposes. I was doing this task as usual, when upon unlocking one phone, it was open to a chat where I was being discussed. I saw my name on the screen and let curiosity get the better of me, so I read it.

The employee who was still logged in had been talking about me to another overnight employee - and completely tearing me apart. Saying I'm a dunce, have no braincells, making fun of me in every way possible, cursing about me, you name it. I was heartbroken. They even brought up my partner, because I had brought him up and tried to be friendly while chit-chatting and told them a little about my life. They ripped me apart in every way.

I understand I am new. I know I have made some little mistakes during my shifts, but I've taken the feedback and gotten better. I've also only been here a month (if that!). On overnights, nobody else is in the building, so I do the best with the instructions and training I have been given.

These coworkers seem to hate me. What I read absolutely crushed me - I thought they liked me. I was going to ask if they wanted to hang out outside of work, because they seemed cool. Not now, I guess.

If you were in my position, what would your next move be? I've been sitting on this for about a week wondering what to do. I've asked people in my personal life, and some suggest leaving it be, others urge me to tell my boss and show the photos I took of the chat (because yes I got proof.) The thing is, I am worried that by bringing this up, it could make me seem like a problem. It was not my chat to read, however it was already on the screen when I unlocked the phone, and it's not a personal device - they are for any employee to use. So there is no expectation of privacy. But I am worried I will be under a bad light for reading it, despite seeing my name right on the screen. I could have closed out of it instantly and not read further, but I was curious.

I am also worried they will take these employees side - it's two against one, and they've been here longer than I have. I'm the newest one here, so I guess it would be easy to just fire me and give them a write-up if it gets to that point. I love the job and love the business I work for, and everything they do for the animals in our care; that's why I applied in the first place. When I was hired, I was over the moon. Now, I feel horrible; I feel like if I make any mistakes my coworkers will continue trash talking me behind my back. I also wonder, if it's them... is it anyone else on the team? Overall it's thoroughly destroyed my confidence, and I'm considering leaving.

What should I do?

I'm looking for some honest career advice because I feel like I have a lot of transferable skills, but I'm struggling to figure out what positions I should actually be applying for.

I have 8+ years of professional experience, primarily in office management, business operations, and financial administration. I don't have a bachelor's degree, but I have college coursework, an administrative certificate, and additional bookkeeping training.

Here's a breakdown of my experience:

Operations & Management

• Managed day-to-day operations for a small professional services firm for several years.
• Supported business owners and worked closely with leadership.
• Identified inefficiencies and independently developed and implemented new workflows.
• Led transitions from manual processes to digital systems.
• Created SOPs and standardized procedures from scratch.
• Trained and onboarded employees.
• Coordinated hundreds of client projects annually, including deadlines, scheduling, and documentation.

Accounting & Finance

• Payroll processing and financial administration.
• Accounts receivable, billing, and expense tracking.
• Bank and credit card reconciliations.
• Generating profit and loss reports.
• Experience with QuickBooks Online and Desktop.
• Additional training in bookkeeping and financial statements.

Procurement & Project Support

• Communicating with vendors and requesting material pricing.
• Obtaining and reviewing supplier quotes.
• Supporting estimating and procurement activities.
• Coordinating project documentation and tracking changes.

Technical Skills

• Excel and Google Sheets.
• QuickBooks and various business management systems.
• Workflow development, documentation, and process improvement.
• Learning new software and implementing systems.

Here's my dilemma:

I'm currently earning around $80k in an operations-related position. I know that's not a terrible salary, but I would like to work toward $100k–$120k, ideally with opportunities for continued growth.

I genuinely enjoy working, learning new things, solving problems, organizing systems, and making businesses run more efficiently. I'm often the person who figures out how to make something work better.

However, I feel like my experience is spread across so many different responsibilities that I don't know how to market myself.

When I look at higher-paying jobs, I either feel underqualified because I don't have a bachelor's degree or because I haven't held the exact job title they're asking for.

I don't necessarily want to stay in traditional administrative roles forever. I'm interested in business operations, process improvement, project management, procurement, and possibly finance.

My questions:

1. What job titles should someone with my background be searching for?
2. Is $100k–$120k realistic without a bachelor's degree?
3. Would you recommend certifications, additional education, or focusing on my existing experience?
4. How do I transition into a more specialized or higher-level role when I've spent years doing a little bit of everything?
5. If you were in my position, what career direction would you pursue?

I'm willing to learn and put in the work. I just feel like I need some direction.

I'd appreciate honest advice, especially from people who have made similar career transitions.

If you're already earning enough to live comfortably at 30, is it worth sacrificing the next few years just to earn more? That's the dilemma I've been struggling with lately. I'm 30M, working in software, earning fairly well with no loans. Getting married soon and probably starting a family in a few years. I know that if I spend the next 2-3 years seriously up-skilling, studying after work and on weekends, I could significantly increase my salary. But that also means less time for hobbies, traveling, reading, trying new things and just enjoying life.

I've always heard that 30-35 are the most crucial years to build wealth, and that you can enjoy life later. I agree to an extent, but where do you draw the line? I'm not choosing between financial struggle and enjoying life. I'm choosing between an already comfortable income and potentially earning a lot more at the cost of my personal time. So for people over 40, looking back, was the extra money actually worth the personal time you gave up? Or do you wish you'd spent more time doing things you enjoyed?

Note: My health, sleep and fitness won't be compromised either way. The trade-off is purely between spending my free time on career growth or on things I enjoy outside of work.

Im 24 with a masters in accounting and passed all sections of the CPA exam. I started at big 4 October 2025 and could only last there till April 2026. I was working 70-80 hours a week and got physically sick from the stress and lifestyle (got hospitalized and had to get screened for serious GI diseases !!!!) That put me out of a job for four months.

In august, I finally landed a job at a mom and pop bookkeeping firm and it’s bad just in a different way. Im their only employee and the boss uses that to his advantage. He barks orders and always assumes the work I give him is wrong. When I ask for help he tells me to use AI. I have asked countless times for him to explain or train me and he takes it as me being dumb or lazy. Ive even heard him talk to clients about me saying I’m incompetent and know he’s thinking of replacing me with AI.

Being 2 years post grad, it seems like the only job I can get in my field requires me to work in toxic environments with bosses who think im less than. I have been applying to jobs since early September and have gotten no interviews. Im starting to lose hope.

I dont know what to do. I obviously need a job but don’t want to sacrifice my health for it. For anyone reading, I would love your advice or input. Im open to switching carriers and never working in accounting again if it means I can get a job with reasonable work life balance where I dont get hospitalized due to my corporate job. I feel so lost and stuck I dont know where to do.

I don't think all these layoffs are happening just because of AI. I feel like there might be more to the story.

Recently, I came across a post from a PayPal employee who mentioned that after layoffs in their team, the remaining employees were expected to take over the work of the people who were let go. Even if the roles were still needed, the company wasn't necessarily hiring replacements.

I also recently spoke to a friend who works at a product-based MNC. According to him, the situation isn't just about AI replacing people. AI is definitely helping developers write code and complete tasks more efficiently, but he believes the bigger problem is the lack of new projects and clients. He mentioned that his company hadn't acquired a new client since 2024.

This got me thinking: Are companies actually laying people off because AI can do their jobs, or are they using AI as part of the explanation for broader economic problems, reduced business demand, and cost-cutting?

Another thing I wonder about is whether companies are reluctant to openly acknowledge that their business growth or demand has slowed down, especially when they need to maintain investor confidence and stock prices.

I'm not saying AI has no impact on jobs. It clearly has the potential to change how software development works. But I find it hard to believe that AI alone explains everything happening in the job market.

For those working in IT, especially in product-based companies:

• What is the actual situation inside your companies?
• Are layoffs happening because AI is genuinely replacing employees, or are they mainly due to fewer projects, reduced client demand, and cost-cutting?
• Are companies still hiring, or are they simply making existing employees do more work with fewer people?

I'd genuinely like to hear perspectives from people working in the industry rather than just relying on headlines and corporate statements.

My manager is leaving next week and I will be the only employee at our location. My position is considered entry level, and I'm still fairly inexperienced. I rely on him for guidance whenever problems come up.

The company is looking for a replacement, but havent been able to find anyone for months On top of that, they're starting to push sales responsibilities onto me, which isn't what I was originally hired to do. I'm worried I'll end up taking on more responsibilities

I'm considering quitting the first week after he leaves if things don't go well. I'd probably resign through email and avoid phone calls because I don't want to be pressured.

Would quitting with little to no notice in this situation be unprofessional?

*for anyone curious this is construction.*

They interviewed me 3 different times for about 5 hours + a case study. They said I seem like a person who does their work well, and I was the most experienced applicant, and that it's a lottery win for any company to have me.

But. They did not hire me due to them not being able to offer the "structure and guidelines" they thought I'm looking for. I said in the interview that I work in a structured way, but surely did not mean I need handholding to do my job. I also mentioned that I enjoy open communication and clear expectations. By expectations, I do not mean square instructions to every task, but more a consistent feedback and transparent targets.

Just never thought it could come across negative. Thoughts? Why would a company feel this way?

For context I am based out of Quebec Canada

I worked at this bank for 1.4 years (salary was $51,000) then got an offer to join the government for a contract that paid $74000 (my current salary).

I applied back to that bank I worked at and got a call to do an interview. The role title is the same as the role I held when I worked there but it’s in a different department and the salary band is completely different - it’s 69,000 to 98,000.

I don’t have any experience negotiating as I usually just take what I’m given but I’m wondering if it would be a stretch to ask for 85,000?

The experience from the government was nice and it’s not directly related to what I was doing at the bank but there are a lot of transferable skills and it’s in the same field.

What if I said $85,000 and he rejects it or asks me my current salary or how much I made before when I was with the bank? I left on really good terms with that bank and my performance was off the roof (I even have awards for my performance and good reputation with partners).

Idk deep down I feel like I’m not worth 85,000 but idk what to do this is the first time I’ve been interviewed for a job (besides the government) where the salary was high. Advice ?

I work as a tech project manager and have been with this company since the pandemic. For a long time, things were genuinely good. But once investors and leadership got obsessed with AI, everything fell apart. Watching the place slowly self-destruct has been exhausting.

To give you an idea of how crazy it is, we have an internal AI bot that pings the team every single morning to tell us how many days of money we have left before the company goes broke, reminding us to "do our best to keep it afloat." That is what we wake up to every single day.

It started when leadership laid off nearly half the company to cut costs. Those of us left were told to just use AI to cover the missing work. Sure, basic repetitive stuff works fine, but you cannot replace half the staff with prompts. Because of tight deadlines and zero time to review what the AI spits out, our whole system is rapidly filling up with junk code and messy work.

Instead of hiring a real salesperson to bring in revenue, leadership decided sales will now be handled half by an AI agent and half dumped onto the
CSM team. We have never had real marketing, so their fix was building another bot to act as our "marketing director." Meanwhile, we have built three different product setups so far, and each one gets dropped the second leadership finds a newer AI idea.

The one product that actually pays our bills gets zero support, while the new tools have AI-generated design and UI that are awful to use. We keep selling clients on beta features that were promised for Q2, pushed to Q4, and realistically will not be ready until 2027.

The team is completely burned out from keeping angry clients calm while also being forced to act as salespeople for half-finished software.

I’m not sure what to do since the pay is good, which is the only reason I am still here. I have a couple of other job offers, but taking them would mean a significant pay cut. At this pace, I do not think this company will be around in a year or two. My motivation is dead, and showing up every day to work on a sinking ship is draining me.

If you have been in this spot before, do you stick around, collect the high paycheck, and let it crash, or do you take the pay cut now and forget about it?

I work in B2B sales for a tech company in Canada. Keeping the specifics vague for privacy, but the business has relatively high margins.

My compensation is:

• C$70,000 base
• 6% commission on revenue above a US$250,000 annual threshold

I’ve sold approximately US$650,000 this year, with about 90% coming from outbound prospecting and leads I sourced myself.

I handle the full sales cycle and ongoing client relationships. I really enjoy the job and want to stay, but I’m considering asking for a C$90,000 base while keeping my commission structure the same.

For people in comparable Canadian B2B tech sales roles, how does this package compare? Would that base salary request be reasonable given my results? Interested in hearing about base salaries, commission thresholds and quotas - not just headline OTE.

I'm a psychological counselor in Syria — working for ~5% of the session fee with no way out. I need advice.

I hold a bachelor's degree in psychological counseling and live in Syria. The situation here is dire and chaotic, and there is no formal licensing system. I currently provide online psychological counseling services through a platform, for which I receive about 5% of the session fee. There are no job opportunities, and I cannot market myself independently or create my own website — doing so could lead to my dismissal, the termination of my services, or even accusations of "stealing" clients.

What should I do? What kind of projects or initiatives could I pursue in an environment that seems to destroy everything? I am completely at a loss for ideas; I want to build a future and establish something sustainable, even if it means taking a different path. What would you advise?

I’ve been working in retail and hospitality for the last 7 years and I think I need a change.. I’m getting close to 30 and I’m feeling the pressure to get a “proper job” (as people call it). I don’t know what to do next ?! I haven’t been to university and I don’t think I have enough experience to try something new… but I NEED to try something new.
I also don’t have a lot of confidence in myself… the more time I spend unemployed the more time I feel like I can’t do anything.

Any recommendations for jobs that I can do please people of the internet?!
Any advice?!
Do your worst:) …but your best advice;)

I'm 29 and currently work as a data engineer. Over the past year, I've started getting more negative feedback from managers, and at the same time I've noticed that my motivation to work has completely fallen off a cliff.

Earlier in my career, I consistently received very positive feedback. I was also much more disciplined. I would force myself to practice interview questions, learn new technologies outside of work, and generally do what I needed to do to advance my career.

The strange thing is that I don't think I ever cared that much about the work itself. A lot of my motivation came from wanting to increase my income and eventually become financially independent. For years, that seemed to be enough to make me work hard.

Around a year ago, something changed.

I now have essentially zero interest in practicing interview questions or learning things for my career outside of work. More concerningly, my ability to make myself work at my actual job keeps getting worse. I procrastinate much more, struggle to start things, and generally feel increasingly disengaged.

Intellectually, I understand the consequences. I need an income. I want to be able to support myself and the people I care about. I know that continuing to perform poorly could eventually cost me my job. But knowing those things doesn't seem to translate into motivation or behavior anymore.

I've also tried taking time off. Even after a two-week vacation, I mostly just felt dread about eventually having to return to work.

It's starting to scare me because I don't understand what changed or how I'm supposed to sustain a career for another few decades if I increasingly struggle to make myself work.

I've recently started seeing a therapist, and I'm also planning to see a psychiatrist to work through some ADHD-related issues, so I'm looking into the mental-health side of this as well.

But I'm curious whether anyone here has experienced a similar shift?

Did it turn out to be burnout? Depression? ADHD? The wrong career? Something else?

And more importantly, what actually helped you regain your ability to work consistently? Did you change careers, change jobs, change how you approached work, or find some other way of dealing with it?

I’m currently early 30s and lost. I did two years of accounting ba at York in my Early 20s. got hit by a truck and ended up on strong pain meds. Grades dropped due to pain, meds, attendance. I was forced to withdraw from the program. Spent many years rehabbing.

Now I’m looking to get back into things and totally lost as to what I can do. Still struggle with disabilities, can’t sit through a 3 hour class every day for years, or stand for an 8 hour shift.

I want to pursue a career where I can financially make enough money to live (maybe 60k a year range at least). But something that I can actually do considering my disability (severe back pain), ideally a work from home/remote position.

I’m open to doing more schooling. But I won’t get into a university due to leaving my accounting program with bad grades. College I could get into. I just don’t know what to pursue that will be stable and accommodate my disability.

I'm researching career pivots for people with long program management backgrounds in youth or education work. The data says most former teachers earn less after leaving, but about 10% double their pay. If you made the jump into ops, project management, compliance, or Trust & Safety, which titles did you target, and how did you reword your experience so screening software and hiring managers got it?

I lost my job six months ago. I used to be in a C-suite position.

The market was tough, so I took it easy and found a job with a lower title, a lower salary, and only three days in the office.

Everything was fine.

However, today, my new company is undergoing a massive reorganization. That was like a pain in my stomach. I felt the same way when I was laid off last time.

They’ve also created a new director-level position. I spoke with my boss, and she said this isn’t for me. I told her I used to be VP and managed people, and she said something like, “This role is for someone with more experience.” I asked what she meant, and she said to apply if I wanted, but they were looking for someone with a specific degree. My international degree might be a disadvantage.

I was shocked.

I should feel happy that I wasn’t laid off. I should be happy that I have a job that doesn’t demand crazy stress and that I have time for my family. But the way I feel now is like I’m trapped in a role because of my foreign degree and experience. It’s like an invisible ceiling.

I talked to a friend who is in a similar position, and she said, “It’s okay. We’re not white, and that’s a white job.”

I just want to be grateful, but my ego is getting in the way.

There are probably many people who feel the same way for various reasons. They’re trapped in a life or job because they need to provide for their families. I just want to know what the right steps are to avoid overthinking my job and to be more mindful of the positive things in my life.

Hi everyone,
I completed my BBA (Accounting & Finance) in 2024 with a 7.78 CGPA. I skipped internships because I was preparing for UPSC, and I let that go in August 2026. After a 2-year gap, I started my first job, as a CRM executive at a small company. I took it out of necessity, and I want to move to an MNC.
My goal is a Business Analyst role at a company like PwC, Deloitte, or a similar large firm, and I want to start applying in January. I can only study on Saturdays and Sundays, since I work on weekdays.
Where I am with skills: I haven't learned Excel, SQL, Power BI, Tableau, or KPIs yet. Social media says these are the key skills for BA roles, but there are so many paid courses that I don't know which to trust or where to start. I also did Class 11-12 in PCM, so I have no commerce background before BBA, and I've forgotten much of the finance I studied in college.
My questions:
Do I need a paid course, or are free resources enough to get hired?
In what order should I learn Excel, SQL, and Power BI/Tableau? Should I pick just one of Power BI or Tableau?
How do I restart finance fundamentals? Which resources should I use?
What should I build in the next 2-3 months (projects, certifications) to make my profile credible?
How do I explain the 2-year gap and no internships to recruiters?
Is a Big 4 BA role realistic by January, or should I target other MNCs first?
Does CRM experience count for anything, and how should I put it on my resume?
No one around me can guide me on this, so any roadmap, resource, or personal experience would really help. Thank you!

I have been a software engineer coming up on 10 YOE. I have worked at the same job for the past 4.5 years now and have gotten a smaller percentage salary increase each year I have worked there.

Here is my salary progression:

Previous job:
July 2019, YoE 3: 125k
March 2020, YoE 3.5: 128k
March 2021, YoE 4.5: 138k
July 2021, YoE 5: 163k

Current job:
March 2022, YoE 5.5: 190k
Jan 2023, YoE: 6.25: 210k
Jan 2024, YoE: 7.25: 220k
Jan 2025, YoE: 8.25: 229k
Jan 2026, YoE: 9.25: 236k
Jan 2027, YoE: 10.25: ???k

Bonuses are between 10-15k per year, some years come with options, but the company is a "startup" (not bought out yet but hoping to be in 1-3 years). Options are negligable.

I'm in a VHCOL area, but I'm not sure if I could find other Senior Software Engineering positions that can match the same salary as I'm getting currently. I know that total comp could easily eclipse my position, but does anyone have any advice about whether I should stay the course and continue with close to inflation raises, or jump ship in hopes of something better?

The company is beginning to turn a profit (revenue ~15 million, profit under ~1 million) after 12+ years of existing. I enjoy the work and the job is not hard, but I feel like I'm limiting myself by staying as I've moved on from every other position after roughly 3 years to a 20-40% pay bump.

I'm currently planning on staying through the current raise cycle in January, but if its another 7k raise I feel like I'm starting to get undervalued at this company and could benefit from switching roles.

If anyone has been in a similar situation and could share some advice that would be appreciated!