Career moves · 231,145 postings · 163 markets · 2026-07-16
Where can your career go next?
Search the role you're in. We count what employers ask for across 231,145 active postings, then show you the markets one step away: how big each one is, and exactly which skills you'd need to add.
What this is and isn't
Markets sit close together when employers on both sides ask for the same skills, measured across 350 normalized skills. This is not a record of people moving between them. That would need career histories we don't have. A close market also isn't automatically a good move. Skills counted are the ones postings list explicitly, so every figure is a floor.
You are here
Backend Developer
204 open jobs·164 employers
10 markets are one step away
These are the 10 careers with the highest skill overlap with Backend Developer. Bigger circles mean more openings; careers closer to the center require fewer new skills.
Among nearby careers, Software Engineer has the most openings (7,054), while Backend Engineer requires the fewest new skills.
Skill transition
How much each market's required skills differ from your
current role.
- Very close8
- Close2
Larger circles = more open jobs, from 114 to 7,054 here.
TapSelect a market to put it at the center.
Backend Engineer
from Backend Developer
Excellent match
Very close
Among the 8 closest moves from Backend Developer.
535
openings in Backend Engineer
6
skills you already have
6
skills to learn
4
skills to strengthen
You already have
Backend DeveloperBackend Engineershare of postingsnodejs
28%38%
postgres
25%36%
postgresql
22%27%
microservices
21%25%
spring boot
13%12%
mysql
17%11%
You'll need to learn
- infrastructureasked for in 60% of Backend Engineer postings
- distributed systemsasked for in 41% of Backend Engineer postings
- goasked for in 44% of Backend Engineer postings
- scalabilityasked for in 46% of Backend Engineer postings
- reliabilityasked for in 43% of Backend Engineer postings
- llmasked for in 22% of Backend Engineer postings
Strengthen what you have
- nodejs28% → 38%
- postgres25% → 36%
- postgresql22% → 27%
- microservices21% → 25%
How much work is out there
Backend Developer204Backend Engineer535This market has 2.6x more postings than yours.
What to do next
1 · Learn
infrastructure
Asked for in 60% of Backend Engineer postings, and 5 other new skills.
2 · Strengthen
nodejs
28% of Backend Developer postings ask for it, against 38% of Backend Engineer.
3 · Look at the work
535 Backend Engineer postings
Observed active in this snapshot.
204 Backend Developer postings · 535 Backend Engineer postings · 350 normalized skills · snapshot 2026-07-16
Methodology
What is this based on?
231,145 live job postings from 28,870 employers across 163 markets, captured 2026-07-16. Skills come from each posting's stated requirements.
How is distance calculated?
Each market becomes a profile of the skills its postings request, and markets are compared by how much those profiles overlap (an IDF-weighted cosine similarity, so skills that appear in almost every role count for less). The closest markets sit nearest the center, grouped into five bands from Very close to Different field.
What do the skill lists mean?
Shared skills are the ones both roles commonly ask for. Skills to learn are the ones the target market asks for that your current role doesn't, ranked by how much more often they come up.
What isn't included?
Years of experience, seniority, salary, portfolio or certification requirements, or how competitive a role is to land. Skill overlap is one axis of a move, not the whole picture.
Read how graphic and product design split into two markets →