Software engineer career: levels, salaries and roles

Resources

Guides and templates that make the job search shorter: from the CV to the first message to a recruiter.

• How to write a developer CV: by level, ATS rules and two marketsWhat a recruiter sees in the first seconds, how a CV gets through ATS, how trainee, junior, middle and senior CVs differ, and the rules for the Ukrainian and international markets.
• Developer CV templates: junior, middle/senior, career switcherThree free ATS-safe CV templates: a junior CV for the Ukrainian market, a middle/senior CV for international companies, and one for career switchers.
• LinkedIn for developers: profile, posts and messages to recruitersA LinkedIn profile checklist for developer job search, how recruiters search, Open to Work settings, a posting routine, and ready messages for recruiters and hiring managers.
• Where developers find jobs: job sites in Ukraine, Europe and remoteA directory of job sites for web developers: Djinni, DOU, Work.ua, robota.ua, LinkedIn, European boards with relocation, and global remote platforms. Who each is for, what level, and how to use it.
• How developers can automate the job search: alerts, a tracker, AI and interview prepA job search workflow without the chaos: job alerts, an application tracker, AI for tailoring CVs and cover letters, a LinkedIn outreach rhythm and an interview prep loop. Plus why auto-apply bots are a bad idea.

All resources

Guides and directories

Freelance platforms, IT communities and Telegram channels, ATS, cover letters and IT myths.

• Freelance and agency platforms for developers: Upwork, Fiverr, Toptal, Clutch and moreA hub of platforms where a developer from Ukraine finds clients: marketplaces, vetted talent networks, agency directories and remote boards. Fees, payouts, vetting, rates, red flags and how to choose.
• Ukrainian IT communities: where developers go to find work and peopleOverview of Ukrainian tech communities, events and forums: what each gives you, how to join and how active it is.
• Telegram for Ukrainian developers: channels and groups for news, jobs, tech and careersCurated public Telegram channels and groups for Ukrainian developers, with subscriber counts, focus and tips on telling signal from spam.
• Global developer communities: where a developer from Ukraine can find people and work abroadReddit, Dev.to, Hashnode, Hacker News, Discord, Meetup, open source and Ukrainian diaspora groups in the EU, US and Canada.
• ATS for developers: what it is, which ones exist and how to get throughWhat an ATS is, which systems employers use in Ukraine and abroad, how parsing and ranking work, what is fact and what is myth in the 75% rejected CVs claim, and how to prepare your CV and application.
• Cover letters for developers: whether to write one, how, and ready templatesWhen a cover letter really helps and when nobody reads it, what it consists of, how long it should be, how a formal letter differs from a Djinni or LinkedIn message, how to use AI, and three short templates.
• Myths in IT: 30 beliefs about getting in, money, careers and learning worth fact-checkingA hub of IT myths for developers and career switchers: degrees, age, math, courses, salaries, the junior market, AI, remote, freelance, ATS, English, LeetCode. What is true, what is not, what the data says and what to do about it.
• Useful YouTube channels for IT people: a curated list for web developers and career switchersA checked list of YouTube channels in Ukrainian and English: frontend, algorithms, system design, DevOps, careers, conferences and AI. With levels, upload frequency and tips on how to learn without getting stuck in tutorials.

Levels, roles and salaries

• 5 min readAI assistants for the job search: Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and prompts that workHow to turn an AI assistant into a helper for your whole job search: a base profile, job analysis, company research, letters and interview prep. Prices, privacy and where AI does harm.
• 5 min readCV and cover letter tools: ATS checkers, AI tailoring and where to draw the line'What an ATS really does, whether an "ATS score" exists, and how to use Jobscan, Teal, Rezi, Kickresume, Resume Worded, FlowCV and Reactive Resume to make your CV sharper, not worse.'
• 10 min readEngineering Manager: What the Role Is and How to Get ThereWhat an engineering manager does, EM vs tech lead, how to move up from senior engineer, what EM interviews look like, and sourced pay data.
• 6 min readInterview prep tools: mock interviews, voice practice and frontend coding platformsWhere to practise technical answers, live coding and system design: interviewing.io, Aced (formerly Exponent), Hello Interview, LeetCode, GreatFrontEnd, BFE.dev, Yoodli and ShortLesson. Plus why AI hints during an interview are a bad idea.
• 4 min readJob application trackers: Huntr, Teal, Simplify or a plain spreadsheetWhy a developer needs an application tracker, what Huntr, Teal, Simplify and Careerflow do, when Notion or Google Sheets is enough, and how to keep your pipeline clean.
• 5 min readWhere developers find jobs: Djinni, DOU, LinkedIn and remote boards, plus alert setupUkrainian and international job boards for web developers: what each offers, what it costs candidates and how to set up alerts so you stop scrolling feeds every day.
• 4 min readJob search tools in 2026: how to build your stack without drowning in itSeries overview: what a web developer's job search stack is made of, which tools you actually need, which you can skip, and how to pick yours in half an hour.
• 7 min readJunior frontend developer skills in 2026: the checklistWhat a junior frontend developer must know in 2026: JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, CSS, one framework, Git, tests, plus how junior interviews work.
• 6 min readJunior to middle to senior: how developers actually get promotedHow to go from junior to middle to senior developer: the concrete behaviours each step needs, what gets you promoted and how interviews change.
• 4 min readLinkedIn for the job search: profile, search, outreach and the limits of safe automationHow to set up your profile and Open to Work, find recruiters and message people, whether Premium is worth it, and why automation tools like Expandi or Waalaxy can cost you the account.
• 7 min readMCP connectors for the job search: connecting AI to your mail, calendar, sheets and browserWhat MCP is, which connectors actually help a job search (Gmail, Calendar, Notion, Sheets, Indeed, Playwright), how to add them in Claude Desktop and Claude Code, and what you should not automate.
• 7 min readSenior software engineer salary in 2026: US and Ukraine comparedSenior software engineer pay in Ukraine (DOU summer 2026) and the US (Levels.fyi, BLS), with sources, dates and what actually moves the number.
• 6 min readStaff vs principal engineer: scope, archetypes, path and payStaff vs principal engineer: how the two top IC levels differ in scope, the four staff archetypes, how to get there and what the pay data shows.

Headless CMS

• 9 min readBest Headless CMS for Next.js: Payload, Strapi, Sanity, Contentful, DirectusA sourced comparison of five headless CMSs for Next.js: hosting, licence, content modelling, editor experience, and which one to pick when.
• 8 min readWhat Is a Headless CMS? A Plain Explanation for DevelopersA headless CMS stores content and serves it through an API, with no built-in front end. How it differs from WordPress-style CMSs and how it fits Next.js.