I got 2 offers this year after taking a few years off. The offers weren't for as much as I'd been making when I left, but I'd expected a little bit of regression there.

The front door is nearly useless because of so many AI tools. Referrals and your network matter more than anything, just bug people you've worked with before (some places are actually hiring). If you don't have a worthwhile network just do anything to show that you're a real person, show up for in person events.

Interviewers cheat with AI a good amount of the time, so don't do that if they say no AI. Its okay to ask what their policy is. Itll still often be leetcode, but sometimes just working through a problem, and/or doing system design. A superpower is being able to express yourself thru diagrams well, so check some system design interviews on youtube and just be able to make and move boxes around in excalidraw.