As a fellow Eastern European (Bulgarian), I hear you and I was in such situations a good number of times.
Though have in mind that changing the way you conduct yourself in interviews truly works. As long as you are NOT in a super rush because you’d be hungry if you don’t get the job next week – then be more casual and just chat with people, ask them why do they need the extra programmers, what kinds of problems are they solving, why is their payment not higher (yes you should outright ask them that!), how are the team dynamics, like is there a lot of back and forth or people can be more independent, are people just allocated tasks or next tasks organically emerge after you fix a bunch of stuff, do they have a lot of standups and if so, why… and many, many others.
Here’s a super corny advice: fill out a document outlining all the things you want in a job. Then also fill out everything you could concede on (i.e. I have no problem being contacted outside work hours, as long as it’s not often or require more than 5-10 minutes to resolve – being open to that is in fact a negotiation leverage). Have that document printed out in front of you when you do interviews. Put it on your keyboard and take a look at it periodically as the conversation progresses.
We the Eastern Europeans get uncomfortable when it comes to negotiations. I am 43 at the moment and finally started overcoming this and the results are very encouraging after I started talking with companies again. Things truly look and feel different.
Don’t be ashamed, don’t be uncomfortable, ask for the things you want, mention what you are willing to concede, be casual and treat the interviews as a friendly chat, and never promise stuff you would hate doing afterwards. Find your own way of doing it. There are rules in business communication (like don’t be an ass and don’t talk in a conflict-y manner i.e. with ultimatums) but 80% of it is your own personality and style – and that too matters as lot. You can do it, dude!
Stay strong and work on rewiring your brain, it will pay you huge dividends!
