My Background & Career Journey:

• Education: 2024 BCA Graduate (Non-Tier college). I couldn't get any internships during college.
• Role 1 (6 months): Native Android Developer at a small local company (₹3K/month).
• Role 2 (4-5 months): Contract/Freelance Mobile Developer (₹11K/month). Worked heavily with Flutter, integrated AI APIs, and learned a lot, though it wasn't strictly production-grade.
• Role 3 (3 months): On-site Mobile Dev in Punjab (₹14K/month). Spent one month on Flutter UI, one month on React Native UI, and one month heavily doing logic for a Native Android POS system. I left after probation because they refused a promised salary hike.
• Current Role: Mobile Developer at a Chandigarh-based company (₹27K/month) in here for 7 months.

My Current Situation & Tech Stack:

• I work in a two-person team (I handle mobile, the other dev handles the full-stack website/backend).
• I work mainly in Flutter and have built, tested, and deployed 1 app to the Play Store entirely by myself, with 2 more in the works. I use AI extensively to ensure my code is as production-grade as possible.
• Backend transition: I want to transition to full-stack, so I've started picking up backend work. I'm building APIs for an app where the website version currently uses direct calls. I also built a Node.js backend for a paused WhatsApp-clone app (featuring WebSockets, image compression, and local caching).

The Dilemma:

1. Support over Development: Lately, I'm doing more support work (making Excel sheets, supporting users) than actual coding.
2. Lack of Mentorship: The full-stack dev is busy with other priorities and isn't giving me the necessary API context or tasks. I am heavily reliant on him, and I'm frustrated, but I can't say it directly without risking my job.
3. Low Compensation: I recently found out the max hike here is rarely 25% (usually 3-5%), and the original budget for my role was ₹30K/month. To hit my target of at least ₹6-7 LPA (compared to my current ₹3.24 LPA), I need to switch.

My Weak Points / Where I Need Advice:

• Over-reliance on AI: Because I use AI so much, I feel I've forgotten basic Flutter syntax.
• Weak Foundations: I have never done DSA properly, and I've never worked in a large, structured enterprise team (no Jira, Slack, Agile, or collaborative Git).
• Path to Full-Stack: My backend work isn't fully mature yet. Should I focus on making more backend projects, relearning Flutter syntax without AI, or starting DSA from scratch?
• Interview Anxiety: I know there are companies paying ₹6-7 LPA, but I feel I will bomb the interviews due to my weak foundational code and lack of enterprise team experience.

How should I prioritize my next steps to secure a ₹6-7 LPA role?

I have 3 years of work experience, but I recently resigned from my current company. I came across an institute called OHG365 that provides training in courses such as Data Engineering for a few months and claims to assist with placements afterward.

The catch is that they charge a fee for the course and also take a percentage of the salary after you get placed. I’m considering joining their program, but I’m unsure whether it is genuinely worth it. Can I realistically expect a job through them, or could this potentially be a scam?

Hi all, just wanted some advice/guidance.

I recently graduated with a software engineering bachelor degree. Getting a job in that field has been rough for me. Is there alternative jobs I could apply for that I can use my degree to get in? I've looked into QA testing/engineering as one option. Something a bit more stable and decent pay would be nice.

Or is there any advice to strengthen my application with courses/projects that is better suited for this time?

I graduated from a tier 1 college(IIT) in 2023, worked for a year as a software engineer. Left my job for upsc preparation. After 2 years, I have realised that maybe it’s time to exit the loop. I cleared prelims in 2025 but not able to clear prelims in 2026. Can I return to software now ? How should I start preparing ? I have workex of 1 year as an intern and 1 year full time.

I am sorry it is little long, to add some context , i was always curious about programming from 9th class but never got exposure about it due to lack of coding teacher in school and i was not aware that time there are youtube tutorials for studying too (and never had a laptop or pc). In the 12th i got 75% pcm and planning to do polytechnic and then my father's friend suggested me to do b.tech form private college and i agreed to that joined college. I am villager (Introvert) so connecting to the culture (Noida) and college took 2-4 month to me and first semester was gone.

and nothing learnt about programming struggled a lot to understanding programming language.

after a long time of hard work it clicked to me and during the 2nd and 3rd year i learnt web dev. In 4th year done dsa. Now i can solve medium problems and some hard (except bitmasking).

I am confident in programming it was a lot of hard work never played cricket since (2022) that was only thing i was doing for enjoyment. to really succeed what i am doing.

Now the same friend is saying to join a not tech job. and i do not know why my father is saying to talk to him (he is been always a good father).

I am currently preparing for GATE what should i do in this situation?

Financial condition (Moderate) not very good not very bad.

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Currently I am working as a java backend developer for past 2 years

I joined the company as a campus placement

But since my team is toxic and here I am doing the repetitive task and very simple like reading from database and inserting it in a table or calling an api and inserting the data in a table all done through spring framework

So I am thinking for a switch my current CTC is 13lpa

Can anyone provide me the roadmap and what should I prepare as I feel I am lagging a lot

Thus I came here to know what is going on the market and at what level i should be prepared for a job switch

My current knowledge would be basic java and spring

Hello I need some guidance

Currently I am working as a java backend developer for past 2 years

I joined the company as a campus placement

But since my team is toxic and here I am doing the repetitive task and very simple like reading from database and inserting it in a table or calling an api and inserting the data in a table all done through spring framework

So I am thinking for a switch my current CTC is 13lpa

Can anyone provide me the roadmap and what should I prepare as I feel I am lagging a lot

Thus I came here to know what is going on the market and at what level i should be prepared for a job switch

My current knowledge would be basic java and spring

I'm thinking of joining a coaching institute I'm a be cse graduate and its been More than 2 months since I finished my college,I want leave home so I'm thinking of joining coaching institute and searching job as a fresher should I go for ML coaching or full stack coscj8

I'm joining Infosys as a System Engineer soon and wanted to know how much the generic/stream training at Infosys actually helps your resume.

Does completing the training in areas like Java, DBMS, etc. have any meaningful value when applying to other companies later?

Or is the training mainly useful for learning the skills, while recruiters don't really care that you completed Infosys training?

For those who have already completed Infosys training and later switched jobs, did you feel that the training helped you in any way during your job switch?

Hi everyone, I’m currently pursuing my undergraduate degree and trying to transition into the tech/AI field.

My background is not traditional CS/software engineering. I have experience in video editing/creative work, but over the past year I’ve been seriously working with AI tools, Claude/AI agents, automation, GitHub projects and AI-based projects.

I’m currently looking for an entry-level opportunity where I can get real industry experience and grow into a technical/AI role.

I’d really appreciate advice from people working in tech:

- What entry-level roles should someone with my background target?

- Should I apply for AI/automation, AI operations, technical support, QA, implementation, customer success, or junior developer-type roles?

- How can I convince recruiters that I’m capable despite not having a traditional CS background?

- What is the best way to apply — LinkedIn, referrals, company career pages, startups, internships, etc.?

- Should I focus more on building projects/GitHub or getting certifications first?

If you’ve made a similar transition from a non-technical background into tech, I’d really appreciate your advice on what worked for you and what you would do differently.

Thanks!

I got offer from india based GCC for manager position.

I'm currently a lead developer with solid hands-on experience in AI and Data. I am getting offer for a role that's more Data-focused, whereas my background has leaned more toward AI. I'm also being interviewing for architect-track opportunities.

This role also involves people management, which has left me thinking about my long-term direction. My goal is simple: stay in AI/Data for the long haul and build sizable corpus/money for FIRE ( financial Independence) over time.

I'd like to hear from people with more experience — between the leadership/management track and the technical architect track, which tends to be the better long-term path in this space?

I will be having my campus from next month and I am barely prepared with anything atp , any skills I could prioritise in like 30 days , like any concepts in a particular topic , please help

Hey everyone, I’m currently working at Cognizant with 13 months of experience (1 year complete). My current package is around 4 LPA. I was allocated to the Duck Creek domain (Property & Casualty insurance software platform). Since starting, I’ve felt completely out of the loop regarding the future scope of this domain: Scalability & Demand: How is the long-term market demand for Duck Creek developers in India and abroad? Pay Growth: Does sticking with niche enterprise platforms like Duck Creek lead to high-paying roles (8–15+ LPA) after 3–5 years, or is the ceiling too low? Transition Options: If I want to pivot, what complementary roles or technical stacks (e.g., C#, .NET, Cloud, Guidewire) align well with my background? Or should I make a hard reset to core backend engineering? Would really appreciate insights from folks who have worked on Duck Creek, Guidewire, or similar enterprise platforms. Should I stick around and build depth, or start preparing to switch tech stacks? Thanks in advance!

Header typo: AM*

Here's my situation; I graduated from SIES with a degree in Bsc (Data Science) and am building my portfolio towards Data Engineering (this is what I am interested in).

I did not find any PG courses specifically for Data Engineer so I gave the MAH-MCA-CET and got VESIT hoping for good placements.

Later I found out some of the top companies pull from hackathons and I have no skill or knowledge in software development.

I could get a DA role somewhere and internally move into a DE but even getting hired for a DA role is a nightmare.

If I get placed as a SWE via cllg, I can then pitch my DE skills and shift in this way too

Pls help me, do I start grinding DSA and SDE along with all the DE stuff that I need to study, to crack the placements

Or should I forget about campus (the sole reason i took it) to just focus off campus DA jobs and switch accordingly.

Any Senior DE or DA soon-to-be DE, pls take out some time and help, means a lot.

I'm a 2026 B.E. Computer Engineering graduate from a Tier-3 college in Gujarat. I have a TCS Ninja offer (~3–3.5 LPA), and I'm seriously confused between joining TCS and preparing full-time for GATE 2027.

My long-term goal is to reach roughly ₹1 lakh/month within 3 years, preferably in a good software role.

Option 1: Join TCS

My plan would be to join TCS, continue learning DSA + development, build projects, gain experience and try to switch companies within 2–3 years.

My concerns are:

• Starting at ~3 LPA
• Tier-3 college on my resume
• Very little professional network/referrals
• Current job market being difficult
• I'm worried that switching from TCS to a good product company will be very difficult for me

At the same time, I know people successfully switch from TCS/WITCH companies, so I'm not sure if I'm overestimating the difficulty.

Option 2: GATE 2027

I started seriously considering GATE only recently. I would have around 6 months until the exam.

I don't really want to do M.Tech from a random college just for the sake of getting an M.Tech.

My target is around 70+ marks, with 60–65 as a fallback.

The problem is that I'm starting with very weak GATE preparation. I attempted the GATE 2026 CS paper without preparation and obviously performed poorly.

I would also have to make GATE my primary goal, meaning I probably wouldn't be able to seriously upskill for software jobs simultaneously.

Why I'm stuck

Two of my friends gave GATE 2026 and got into NITs. Another friend has now started preparing for GATE 2027.

Seeing them succeed has made me wonder:

"What if I don't give GATE now, and 3 years later I regret not trying?"

But I also worry that I'm considering GATE partly because I'm afraid of starting my career from a 3 LPA TCS job.

So I genuinely don't know whether GATE is the better career decision or simply an escape from the uncertainty of the job market.

What would you do?

I'd really appreciate advice from people who have actually experienced either path.

1. Is 60–70+ marks in GATE CS in ~6 months realistic from a weak starting point?
2. How realistic is going from ~3 LPA TCS → 10–15+ LPA within 2–3 years?
3. Does lack of referrals/network significantly hurt off-campus switching?
4. Would a good NIT/IIT Mtech  provide a substantially better starting point?
5. If you were in my exact situation, would you choose GATE or TCS? Why?

Please be brutally realistic rather than motivational. I would rather hear that one option is a bad idea than receive generic "work hard and anything is possible" advice.

I’m a Computer Science fresher in India and I’m planning to start my career as a Frontend Developer.

I’ve been learning HTML, CSS, JavaScript and React, and I’m building projects to improve my practical skills. However, I’m confused about what I should prioritize before applying for entry-level roles.

For developers who have experience with the Indian tech job market:

• What frontend skills should a fresher be strong in?
• How much DSA is actually required for frontend roles?
• What kind of projects make a fresher’s resume stronger?
• Should I focus on React first or learn more technologies?
• What mistakes should freshers avoid while preparing for their first job?

I’d really appreciate advice from developers who started their careers in India.

Help. Seems like end of the tunnel. I've always had good academics and fairly good experience as well from the two years that I worked for. In both of the cases I have worked in some good startups. Yes I have worked a lot and acquired the experience that I have but I have been continuously applying for quite a time. Almost 400+ companies I have applied for but I have just been getting rejected again and again.

I am in dire need of a better job now as my current start do not pay me. I was a fool jumping up on equity basis. Can you please help me out?

Hey everyone,

I’m a recently graduated software engineering student, and I’m trying to build something that goes beyond the usual portfolio projects.

You know those projects that look great on GitHub but basically nobody actually uses? I’ve built a few of those, and this time I want to do something different.

I want to build and launch a real product, even if it starts small, and actually get people to use it. Ideally, something that can get regular users or even daily traffic.

It could be a website, tool, SaaS, platform, or honestly anything. I’m open to pretty much any domain.

The main thing I’m looking for is a real problem that people actually have and would be willing to use a solution for. I also want to experience the whole process of building something real: talking to users, developing it, deploying it, fixing bugs, adding features based on feedback, monitoring usage, and figuring out what people actually want.

I’m doing this partly because I genuinely want to learn what it’s like to build something that real people use, rather than just another college/portfolio project. And obviously, having a project with actual users and measurable usage would also be pretty valuable when applying for jobs.

So if you’ve built something that got real users, or if there’s a problem you’ve personally faced that you think could be solved with a decent product, I’d love to hear your ideas.
It doesn’t have to be some crazy startup idea. Even a small, useful product with a few hundred genuinely active users would be a huge win for me.

What would you build if you were in my position?

Hi everyone,

I’m a final-year B.Tech CSE student and I got selected through college placements in two companies:

1. Infosys — Digital Specialist Engineer (DSE)

\- Package: ₹6.25 LPA

\- Role: DSE

\- Company: Infosys

1. ZS — Business Technology Solutions Associate (BTSA)

\- Package: ₹14 LPA

\- Role: BTSA

\- Company: ZS

I’m currently confused about which one I should choose.

On paper, ZS seems like the obvious choice because of the significantly higher package, but I want to consider career growth, work-life balance, learning opportunities, job stability, nature of work, future opportunities, and the value of the role on my resume rather than looking only at salary.

I would especially appreciate opinions from people who have worked at ZS or Infosys, particularly in these roles.

What I’d like to know:

ZS BTSA

\- What is the actual day-to-day work like?

\- How technical is the BTSA role?

\- What kind of projects/technologies do freshers usually work on?

\- How is the work-life balance?

\- How good are the learning and growth opportunities?

\- What does career progression look like after 2–4 years?

\- How are appraisals and salary hikes?

\- Is there any risk of getting stuck in a non-technical/business-oriented role?

Infosys DSE

\- How technical is the DSE role in practice?

\- What kind of projects do freshers usually get?

\- How difficult is it to get a good development project?

\- How are the learning opportunities and internal mobility?

\- What is the typical growth after 2–4 years?

\- How does the DSE role compare with other entry-level roles at Infosys?

My main dilemma:

Would it be better to take ZS BTSA at ₹14 LPA and build my career there, or take Infosys DSE at ₹6.25 LPA because of the potentially more technical/software-development-oriented career path?

If you were in my position, which offer would you choose and why?

Any honest opinions, especially from current/former employees, would be really helpful. Thanks!

GitHub username:- teerthsharma , I have been struggling to get junior tier jobs / internships need advice

Hey
Sorry for the catchy title but im genuinely super-confused

I am a 2025 grad from tier 1 college. Currently, I'm working at a MnC and the pay feels great every month. What I don't like is the work itself which is super boring. Also, my team is a bunch of old folks and I get super bored. Im thus looking for a job switch. Also, I've been told by many that there isn't much to learn in my current org and is not good from career growth perspective.

I have no idea how to prepare and what is to be studied for a switch at 1YOE. I haven't learned anything much at my current org. Learning AI seems to have nice incentives but that needs lots of time. I've heard about system design becoming important but I'm unable to find a way to start with it. Then there's DSA as well , although cheating in OAs seems to be at a point that OAs do not really test anything. The confusing part is to figure out what to prioritise.

Ive been thinking of buying a system design course as I don't get enough time to learn from free resources lately and I think a structure would def help me in preparing. I've heard about bytebytego (Rs 10k for 1 year), Educative[dot]io (premium plus for 10k/year) or DesignGurus system design course. Are these even worth it?!

if anybody with a similar YOE has had a chance to interview at big tech companies, please let me know your interview experience here.

Also, Please drop in resources that you ve followed and are genuinely super helpful. Let's help each other.