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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.

Popular

You are here

Software Engineer

7,054 open jobs·1,601 employers

10 markets are one step away

These are the 10 careers with the highest skill overlap with Software Engineer. Bigger circles mean more openings; careers closer to the center require fewer new skills.

Among nearby careers, Engineering Manager has the most openings (723), while Software Developer requires the fewest new skills.

Skill transition

How much each market's required skills differ from your
current role.

  • Very close10

Larger circles = more open jobs, from 114 to 7,054 here.

Tap a market to put it at the center.

The 10 markets closest to Software Engineer, ranked by how much their skills overlap with your current role. Distance from the center shows how different the required skills are, closer is a smaller change. Color is the transition band; circle size is open jobs.
  • Software Developer

    from Software Engineer

    Excellent match

    Very close

    Among the 10 closest moves from Software Engineer.

    303

    openings in Software Developer

    6

    skills you already have

    5

    skills to learn

    5

    skills to strengthen

    You already have

    Software EngineerSoftware Developershare of postings

    full stack

    33%41%

    java

    28%28%

    react

    20%25%

    c#

    8%23%

    typescript

    19%21%

    postgres

    13%14%

    You'll need to learn

    • sqlasked for in 29% of Software Developer postings
    • agileasked for in 28% of Software Developer postings
    • azureasked for in 23% of Software Developer postings
    • devopsasked for in 19% of Software Developer postings
    • cadasked for in 11% of Software Developer postings

    Strengthen what you have

    • full stack33% → 41%
    • react20% → 25%
    • typescript19% → 21%
    • c#8% → 23%
    • postgres13% → 14%

    How much work is out there

    Software Engineer
    7,054
    Software Developer
    303

    This market has 23x fewer postings than yours.

    Smaller than the market you're in, but 6 of the skills it asks for are ones you already have.

    What to do next

    1. 1 · Learn

      sql

      Asked for in 29% of Software Developer postings, and 4 other new skills.

    2. 2 · Strengthen

      full stack

      33% of Software Engineer postings ask for it, against 41% of Software Developer.

    3. 3 · Look at the work

      303 Software Developer postings

      Observed active in this snapshot.

    7,054 Software Engineer postings · 303 Software Developer 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 →