LOL! Right?! "Nice try recruiter."

I promise I'm just a software engineer who languished at well-below-market rates (for about a decade) because I didn't realize the ways I could actively manage my career.

For the types of employers who PAY well below market rates, the incentives are aligned towards people not learning those techniques.

Interestingly, for organizations who are expanding aggressively, it actually makes sense for them to promote movement in the market. If more people in those languishing roles would open their eyes, then hyper-growth startups who are actually competing for talent will benefit.

So many tech businesses are currently limited by their ability to hire, and so many developers are sitting around with their blinders on because of the prevailing narrative that there's no value in responding to recruiters.