Hi everyone,

I completed my B.Tech in CSE, but honestly, I wasn't very interested in coding at the time. I somehow managed to get through it and didn't sit for campus placements. Later, I decided to prepare for GATE and eventually joined an M.Tech in CSE. I'm currently in my first semester.

During my GATE preparation, I discovered that I genuinely enjoyed subjects like Operating Systems (OS) and Computer Organization and Architecture (COA). I didn't pay much attention to them during my B.Tech, but I really liked understanding how computers work internally and how things function at a lower level.

Now that I'm in M.Tech, I'm becoming increasingly concerned about placements. I've recently started learning DSA, but I'm unsure about which direction to pursue.

I'm particularly interested in understanding how systems work internally, how they're designed, how software interacts with hardware, and how different components work together. This makes me wonder whether I should explore system-oriented fields instead of blindly following the AI/ML trend.

I have a few questions for people working in the industry or who have been in a similar situation:

1. What career paths should I explore? Would areas like systems programming, operating systems, distributed systems, infrastructure engineering, embedded systems, or systems design be a good fit for someone with my interests?
2. Are there entry-level or campus placement opportunities in these areas for M.Tech CSE students in India? What kinds of companies and job titles should I look for?
3. When people say system design, I usually think of understanding how systems work and how their components fit together. Is that the right way to think about it, and what should I learn first?
4. What prerequisites should I focus on besides DSA? Should I strengthen C/C++, OS, computer networks, databases, and computer architecture before exploring more specialized topics?
5. Since I'm only in my first semester, is it realistic to prepare for these roles alongside college coursework and placements? What would a practical learning roadmap look like?
6. Finally, is pursuing this domain a sensible career choice in terms of job opportunities and long-term growth, or would it be safer to focus on more mainstream areas such as AI/ML?

I'm not trying to avoid coding altogether. I just want to find a field where the coding I do is connected to concepts I find interesting, rather than choosing a domain simply because everyone else seems to be pursuing it.

I'd really appreciate honest advice, especially from people working in systems-related roles or who have navigated campus placements in India. I'd also love to hear about the mistakes to avoid and what you would do if you were starting again in my position.

Thanks!

Hello fellow redditors,

I’m currently working as an L1 SOC Analyst in India, earning ₹3 LPA. My goal is to reach ₹12 LPA by October 2027, and I’m looking for honest advice from people who have made a similar career jump.

Here’s my profile:

Experience: 2+ years in SOC operations

SIEM: Wazuh, ELK Stack

EDR/XDR: CrowdStrike Falcon, Bitdefender, Blumira

Other technologies: Sophos, Fortinet, SonicWall, Microsoft 365, Active Directory, Cloudflare WAF

SOC responsibilities: Alert triage, initial investigation, IOC analysis, incident documentation, escalation, shift handovers, SLA/KPI management, SOPs and playbooks

Achievement: Tuned Wazuh rules and reduced false positives by approximately 30%

Certifications: CrowdStrike Certified Falcon Administrator, Falcon Threat Hunter and Falcon Incident Responder

I have hands-on experience in 24/7 SOC environments, but I know I still need to improve my technical depth to qualify for better-paying roles.

My target is to reach ₹12 LPA within the next 12 months.I don't know I'm gonna achieve this but at any cost i have to do this like I know it's very hard but I can work . I need some advice how I can achieve this should I do certificates or should I do something else just comment below it means a lot to me if you can help me achieve my goal .

I'm a 2025 B.Tech CSE graduate from a Tier-1 non-IIT college. I interned at a product-based company (PBC), but due to an injury, I had to take a break and couldn't convert the internship into a full-time offer.

At the beginning of this year, I started working at an ed-tech company where I primarily teach MERN stack development and DSA. The compensation is good for my current situation, with approximately ₹90K in monthly in-hand salary. The work environment is decent, the people are good, and honestly, I'm living a pretty comfortable life right now.

However, I don't see my compensation growing significantly here over the next few years, so I'm trying to figure out the best long-term career path.

My current skill set:

• Good command of DSA, and I'm reasonably confident in my ability to clear coding rounds.
• Comfortable with MERN stack development.
• Have built and shipped projects, including full-stack and GenAI-based projects.
• Have a decent understanding of GenAI concepts and their practical applications.
• Haven't focused much on system design yet.
• My biggest weakness is limited production-level software engineering experience, since my current role primarily involves teaching rather than working as a full-time SDE.

Option 1: Switch to a high-paying SWE/SDE role.

My target is an SDE-1/SWE-1 role with a base salary of at least ₹20–25 LPA, ideally with a total CTC of around ₹30 LPA or more.

I'm willing to put in the work required to get there. However, I'm unsure how much companies value candidates with strong DSA skills and personal projects but limited professional software development experience.

For those who've been in the industry for 4–5 years:

• Is this target realistic with my background?
• How much of a disadvantage is my current non-SDE role?
• Given the layoffs and uncertainty in the tech industry, is pursuing this path still worth it?
• What would you focus on over the next 4-6 months to maximise your chances?

Option 2: Government jobs

My parents are encouraging me to prepare for technical government positions, such as Scientist/Engineer roles in government organisations, and are asking me to prepare for GATE.

I understand the appeal of stability, but I'm unsure whether I should seriously pursue this route or continue investing in the private sector. I'd appreciate perspectives from people who've worked in these organisations or made a similar career decision.

Option 3: Quant roles

I've also been curious about quant roles. I have a CSE background and enjoy DSA and problem-solving. Mathematics has actually been one of my favourite subjects, so I'm not hesitant about the mathematical side of things.

However, I don't have a clear understanding of how realistic this transition would be at this stage.

• Is it feasible to break into quant development or related roles as a 2025 graduate?
• What additional skills, mathematical concepts, or preparation would I need?
• How different are the entry barriers compared with regular SWE roles?

My main dilemma:

I'm not unhappy with my current job. The pay is decent, the work environment is good, the people are supportive, and my lifestyle is comfortable. But I don't want to become complacent and realise a few years later that I've limited my career growth.

At the same time, I don't want to chase a higher salary blindly without considering job security, long-term growth, and the risks involved in making the wrong move.

I'm willing to work hard and commit seriously to a path. I just want that effort to translate into sustainable career growth and financial security.

If you were in my position, what would you do?

I'd especially appreciate advice from people with 4–5+ years of industry experience, those who've switched from non-SDE roles into software engineering, or anyone who's had to choose between private tech and government careers.

Honest opinions and constructive criticism are welcome. Thanks for reading!

Yo guys,

So long story short

Worked at Wipro for 3 years, ngl worst

decision ever. There is no work and was so toxic I had to quit for my sanity.

Then life happened and 1 had to take a 2 year

break due to some personal stuff.

Vow I'm back and trying to restart. Currently grinding DevOps (Linux, AWS or azure , Docker, K8s,Jenkins -the usual stack) and trying to switch.

But honestly I'm kinda lost and spiraling a bit.

D

Need some real advice from people who've

been there:

How do you even explain a 2 year gap

without getting ghosted?

Is DevOps actually worth it in 2026 or am I

learning the wrong thing?

And for mental peace any friends??

I joined my company as a Trainee, where I was trained in AWS and cloud-related technologies.

After training, I was assigned an L1 support role where most of my work involves handling ServiceNow tickets for password resets, server resets, VM provisioning, decommissioning, and checking CPU and memory utilization

I feel like I'm not learning anything new or growing technically. On top of that we have 9-hour rotational shifts, including morning, afternoon, and night shifts, which are affecting my sleep and overall well-being. I barely get time to upskill outside work.

I requested a release from project, they refused to release me.

Spoke to HR about my situation and the response was basically: either resign or continue working in the rotational shifts. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground.

I'm confused about what to do next. I don't want to resign without another offer, especially with only 1yoe At the same time I don't want to spend the next few years stuck in a role that isn't helping my career.

I would prefer not to resign without a backup offer, but the current situation is becoming difficult to manage.

Any advice would be appreciated.

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Zeomega
Anywho works here, please share company review, work culture, hikes, management etc

Hi,

I have joined my current organization in Dec 2025, initially they recruited for dev role but during project allocation they mapped to a manual testing role, my current organization has 2 year bond (till 2027 Dec). I want to shift to the dev role, and need guidance on how to move from this situation.

Background

- Graduated from a tier-1 engineering college (among the top 3 NITs) in 2025

- Worked ~2.5 years at an early-stage startup during college (4-member team, remote, unpaid, but basically full-time hours) across product, building, and distribution

- Skipped campus placements because I was set on product roles

What happened at my current company

- Joined a famous mid-size company in Hyderabad in late 2025 as a 6-month intern (25k stipend), with a verbal promise of 6–8 LPA on conversion and a product role. Nothing in writing (my mistake)

- Got a marketing ops designation on joining; was told "ignore it, focus on the full-time role"

- Took ~17 days (Not a continuous one) of leave + remote work for my sibling's wedding. The internship was then extended by 2 months "to cover the leave", even though I kept working remotely during that time

- The senior manager who made the promise left, and now denies it

- At conversion time, they offered 4 LPA. I said I'd leave. They converted me to full-time anyway, without my consent, ~9 months after joining

- After more back-and-forth: 5 LPA, arrears "pending founder approval", designation Junior Product Associate

- When I asked to at least drop the "Junior", I was told that title sits in a higher salary band

What I've worked on in ~10 months

- an AI doubt-solving app for Class 11–12 students. Photo of a problem in, step-by-step video explanation out, in regional languages, with voice. I own it end-to-end: PRD, roadmap, key product decisions, development, distribution planning

- Owned a RAG chatbot end-to-end: payment and CRM integrations, reduced token consumption, chunking and fine-tuning improvements

- Built a second RAG bot, revamped a lead-prediction tool's logic, and led a chatbot-to-website transition (planning, development, marketing dashboard)

- Multi-channel campaigns (SMS, WhatsApp, email)

All this on a 6-day week, often working late.

Job search so far (APM / product roles)

- Some say I'm "overqualified" because their role is mostly coordination

- Some ask if I'd rather apply as a developer

- Recent ones say my ask for Market band (12–14 LPA) is too high and offer ~30% over current CTC

- Cleared some rounds, failed some

Seniors and Peers say do not leave the current role without an Offer in Hand.

Constraints

- Need to stay in Hyderabad for family health reasons. Open to remote

- Current pay doesn't cover my living expenses

What I'd love advice on

- Is 12–14 LPA unrealistic for my profile, or am I just being anchored to my current CTC?

- How do I handle the "current CTC" question without badmouthing my company?

- Which roles or companies value a "builder + PM" profile? AI PM, product analyst, founder's office, GCCs, something else?

- Should I take a ~7–8 LPA offer with a proper PM title just to reset my base, or hold out?

- Has anyone been in a similar spot? How did you get out?

Honest feedback welcome, including if I'm overestimating myself.

​

Hi everyone! I’m a 2026 CSE graduate and have offers from both TCS (Ninja) and HCLTech (Mainframe Trainee).

I’ve received TCS pre-joining training access and HCLTech training-related communication, but I’m still looking for clarity on joining timelines.

I’m confused about which one to choose for long-term career growth.

1. Which company would you recommend and why?

2. Is starting in Mainframe a good career choice, or does it limit future opportunities?

3. Which offers better learning, salary growth, and job-switching opportunities?

I’d really appreciate honest advice, especially from people currently working at either company.

Thanks!

​

Hi everyone! I’m a 2026 CSE graduate and have offers from both TCS (Ninja) and HCLTech (Mainframe Trainee).

I’ve received TCS pre-joining training access and HCLTech training-related communication, but I’m still looking for clarity on joining timelines.

I’m confused about which one to choose for long-term career growth.

1. Which company would you recommend and why?

2. Is starting in Mainframe a good career choice, or does it limit future opportunities?

3. Which offers better learning, salary growth, and job-switching opportunities?

I’d really appreciate honest advice, especially from people currently working at either company.

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I need some advice from people who have gone through background verification (BGV) at Indian IT companies, especially those who have experienced employment discrepancies.

Here is my situation:

● I joined Company A on 22 June 2021 and left on 27 June 2022. I have my offer letter, salary slips, and experience letter. There was no PF account with this employer.

● I joined Company B on 5 July 2022 but left in October 2022 without a formal relieving or experience letter.
Reason for absconding - The role was initially communicated as fully remote, but later I was asked to work from the office. I requested time to manage the transition, but the situation deteriorated. I do have the offer letter and salary slips, and PF contributions were associated with this employment.

● I joined Company C on 17 October 2022 and have been working there since. My PF/UAN history includes Company B and Company C.

I recently cleared two technical interview rounds at a prospective employer. During BGV, the HR team noticed Company B in my UAN employment history, although I had not included it in my resume or application form.

HR emailed me saying that a discrepancy in my employment history had been observed and asked for clarification for further investigation.

I have now submitted Company B’s offer letter, salary slips, and an explanation of why the employment ended without a formal relieving letter. I am currently waiting for HR’s response.

My questions:

1. Has anyone experienced a similar situation where a short-term employment was omitted from the resume/application and later surfaced through UAN verification?

2. In such cases, did the company ask for additional documents, put the BGV on hold, or reject the candidature?

3. Can offer letters and salary slips help when an experience or relieving letter is unavailable?

4. How do Indian IT companies and their clients typically assess such discrepancies?

5. Does having several years of continuous employment afterward make any difference to the assessment?

I understand that policies differ between companies. I’m particularly interested in hearing from people who have actually experienced this during BGV. Or how to handle this in future.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences.

Hey everyone! I'm a final-year AI & Data Science student preparing for placements and internships, and I'd really appreciate some honest feedback on my overall profile.

I'm sharing my resume along with my GitHub and LinkedIn profiles. Could you please take a look and let me know how they look, whether my resume is ATS-friendly, what I'm missing, and what I should improve or add?

I'd also appreciate it if you could check out my projects and overall profile and tell me what impression they give. Feel free to point out any mistakes or weaknesses. I'm genuinely looking to improve, so any suggestions or constructive criticism would be really helpful!

Thanks in advance! :)

And if any HR sees the post and you are looking for an AI Intern or Data Analyst Intern. Just give me a ping or dm me :) XD

Here is the github link: https://github.com/Faraz-05

My Qualifications are:

Recently in Final year of my Bachelor of Engineering in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science with a current CGPI of 9.2/10

Also My 12th i got 82.5% in HSC
And in my 10th i got 92.2% in SSC

have around 5 years of experience as an engineer in application support and operations. I'm an average engineer who gets the job done, and I'm currently serving notice at my service company. I have two offers and I'm struggling to choose. Job security is my top concern.

Offer 1: A global consumer brand (Gurugram)

Senior-level specialist role in platform operations. It sits with the business team. The work is coordinating between business stakeholders and the tech team to resolve recurring issues, tracking system/inventory sync, reporting business impact, and automating manual tasks on my own(it's a choice not mandatory).

This was my client of current service based company

Offer 2: Persistent Systems (Noida)

Senior Lead, DevOps for (Salesforce/Copado).

Concern: it's a service company, so I'm worried about bench/roll-off if the client cuts costs. I've also seen mixed reviews online. Like they have hire and Fire policy even if you do good work .

Other factors:

I have a age of getting married and not comfortable with travelling. Persistent have offices everywhere while the other one have in gurgaon only.

Package is almost same for both.

I've done on-call duty and I'm comfortable with application issues, but pure SRE-style work makes me nervous.

I'm worried about how AI will affect both a DevOps role and a coordination/reporting role

Thanks in advance

Hey, I am an final year ug at IIT Madras, Civil Branch. I have completed my summer intern at amazon and secured and ppo. So I want to know if it is worth to switch to Google or stay in amazon for next few years and want to know how will my nw change in both the paths. I also wanna know about a third path the quant path like graviton, quant brokers. I would be personally satisfied if I earn 5 lakhs and month? Is that possible to make in india tech situation.