u/Due_Suggestion4842

I've been job hunting for about 6 months now. Can't really blame the market - it's tough out there, but I've gone through plenty of interviews. A few didn't work out simply because I wasn't as prepared as I should've been.

For context, tech stack and work culture at these companies are all fairly comparable to what I'm used to. At my last company, my total comp was around $94K. Most of the new roles I've interviewed for offer $95-100K base. I've also come across some positions in the $70-80K TC range, and honestly, those have been noticeably easier to land based on my interview experience so far.

Given how long and draining this search has been, I'm leaning toward just accepting one of the lower-paying offers for now rather than continuing to grind through interviews.

So my question: for someone with 10 years of experience in backend/distributed systems, what's a reasonable TC to expect right now? Am I underselling myself by considering the lower end, or is that a fair reflection of the current market?

I don't want to come across as anti-immigration or race-baiting with this post, so please read it in that spirit. I've lived in Dublin for six years now, and I'm an immigrant myself. Over the past week, my partner was catcalled twice in the city centre, both times by a group of men hanging around outside the salon near Centra on King Street - presumably Middle Eastern-looking, though I could be wrong about that. Up to now, the only harassment we've dealt with has been the occasional cocky teenager, so this felt different. Has anyone else noticed this becoming more common lately, or was this just a one-off?

I've flown Ryanair several times with my partner over the past years, mainly because they're so much cheaper than the alternatives. I used to see other passengers get hit with oversized baggage fees and think nothing of it, it never happened to me, so I didn't really care. But over the last two years, I've had multiple bad experiences of my own.

1. I got charged €60 for a backpack that clearly fit their sizer, because I was running late for my gate and was one of the last to board. They let my friends go ahead of me and only stopped me, it felt like they were deliberately putting pressure on me since I was rushed. I still have a photo of the bag proving it fit.
2. At London Stansted, I wasn't allowed to check in an extra bag I'd already paid for, because staff said I was "too late." The flight itself was delayed by two hours, and I was standing right at the check-in area, which showed "closed" on the display board. Turns out there was another counter open elsewhere for 20 minutes that I didn't know about. Because I hadn't taken a photo of the board showing "closed," I had no proof, and ended up paying another €60 at the gate for a bag I'd already paid to check in.

After experiences like these, flying Ryanair has become stressful even when everything else goes smoothly. You never know how their staff are going to treat you, and it feels arbitrary and unaccountable. I've started switching to Aer Lingus or Vueling instead, even if it costs more, just for peace of mind.

So I guess my question is: why do Irish travelers keep tolerating this kind of treatment? I get that their fares are unbeatable, and maybe these incidents are a drop in the bucket compared to how many passengers they fly overall, but shouldn't there be some basic accountability and decency regardless? Just venting at this point, but curious if others have had similar experiences.