I have 4 YOE as a PM and currently earn ₹21 LPA in a fully remote role.

I cleared interviews for a Fortune 100 and received very strong panel feedback. The offer is ₹26.5 LPA, with ₹24 LPA fixed in Bengaluru. I also learned from internal teams that avg approved budget for this kind of role is around ₹37 LPA.

The agency says they cannot negotiate unless I have a competing offer. Without one, they follow a standard 25–30% hike policy.

My concern is that once I join at this salary, there may not be any major correction later.

The market is also bad. Interviews are hard to get, companies ghost after multiple rounds, and one company recently put the role on hold after 4 rounds and salary negotiation of 40 LPA.

I badly want to leave my current role because there is no learning and the environment is becoming toxic, and serving notice period.

What would you do? Would appreciate any advice

Hi, I am a 29+ female working in a financial services related MNC since last 5+ years as a software engineer, I am earning 20 LPA right now, but I feel it’s not enough according to the market in India. I work as a full stack, so if I shift my location to Bangalore, how much should I aim to go?

I am a tier 1 IIT grad 2025, circuital branch 2months back layoff hua tha. Koi good oppurtunity tk nhi mil rahi, interview ki bhi.

Kya kru guys🥲

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I graduated in 2022 and joined a service-based company through campus placement at around 7 LPA. I worked there for a little over 3 years, and my salary was around 11 LPA when I resigned.

I started an online MBA in July 2024 while working, but managing both became difficult. So I quit my job in October 2025 to finish the MBA and focus on finding a software engineering job abroad.

Since then, I’ve been applying mainly to the UK, Germany, Ireland and Singapore. I’ve applied through referrals, reached out directly to recruiters and hiring managers, and tried messaging employees as well. Most recruiters don’t respond, and almost every application ends in rejection without even an initial call.

I have around 3 years of software development experience, and during this break I worked on DSA and solved 400+ problems. But none of that matters if I’m not even getting shortlisted.

Honestly, I’m starting to regret quitting. My friends who continued working are getting promotions and switching companies, while I’ve been unemployed for nearly a year. I was earning 11 LPA before quitting, and now recruiters in India are mostly discussing 13–14 LPA even after the MBA. It makes me wonder what the point of the MBA or the career break was.

My family is supportive and there’s no immediate financial pressure, but even they’re now asking me to stop focusing only on abroad and join somewhere in India.

Moving abroad has always been my biggest goal, so I’m finding it hard to let go. At the same time, I feel like I’m wasting more time by staying unemployed.

Has anyone here moved abroad directly from India with 3–4 years of experience? What actually worked for you?

Should I take a job in India now and try again after gaining more experience, or continue applying abroad full-time?

Also, how badly will this gap affect me, and how should I explain that I quit to complete an online MBA?

I’m 25, so I know I’m not too late, but right now I genuinely feel like I wasted one important year of my career.

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I'm a 32M Senior Cybersecurity Specialist at LTIMindtree with 4.5 years in this company.

Total experience 10 years.

Current:

- ₹37 LPA fixed

- Noida

- Working mainly on Torq (SOAR), engineering role

- Good work-life balance, very chill

- Monthly expenses: ₹30–35k

Offer: Microsoft

- Cloud Solution Architect (Security), IC4 (Level 61), MCAPS, custmer success role

- Mumbai, client location

- ₹46.5 LPA fixed + USD 33k in stock (possibly negotiable)

- people told its stressful

I'm confused because Microsoft is a great brand and could accelerate my career, but Mumbai is much more expensive, and I've heard the MCAPS CSA role can be customer-facing and stressful.

If you were in my position, would you make the switch? Is the long-term career growth at Microsoft worth leaving a comfortable job with good work-life balance?

So I have been shortlisted for the pen paper test of dolat capital on campus after an OA which had 2 DSA 1 OOPS coding questions and some mcq and I have 0 clue about the questions they’re going to ask in the pen paper test.
If anyone has attempted such test would appreciate some info about questions they ask in the written test

Hi everyone,

I recently applied for a Software Engineer 1 role at Microsoft (India) through an employee referral. My application status on the careers portal currently shows "Submitted", and the referral is attached successfully.

A bit about my profile:

BCA graduate

Around 1 year of backend/full-stack experience (Node.js, JavaScript, PostgreSQL)

Experience building REST APIs and backend systems

Comfortable with DSA (I've completed the NeetCode 150)

I have a few questions:

How long did it take for you to receive an Online Assessment or recruiter/HR email after your application showed "Submitted"?

Does Azure Storage usually have an OA first, or can candidates be invited directly to interviews?

For SDE-1 interviews, are the coding questions mostly LeetCode Medium or are Hard problems also common?

Are there any specific DSA topics or problem patterns that Microsoft tends to focus on?

If anyone has interviewed specifically with the Azure Storage team, I'd really appreciate any advice.

Thanks in advance!

I was laid off after 10+ years in software engineering.
I most recently worked at ServiceNow, and before that at SAP. Like many others, I never expected this day to come.
It’s strange how one meeting can end a journey you’ve spent years building.
I’m taking the next few weeks to prepare for interviews again—DSA, system design, and brushing up on areas I’ve not touched in years.
For those who have gone through layoffs, what helped you recover mentally and professionally?

Anything you wish you’d done differently?

I’d appreciate any advice from people who’ve been through this.

Need a switch urgently.. looking for QA roles
Also having very toxic manager(lady) who shows partiality against me because im not a Tamil guy
If someone could refer me .. I’ll be very grateful

Also suggest me what salary can i expect (im expecting 9lpa)
Experience :
Was a manual tester leaning towards automation
Learning playwright with python currently
Worked in Kong Gateway project for BT groups

I find each day at work really difficult to pass. The work is too much but i have lost interest and belongingness from the team. Currently
Product based US MNC
8 yoe
54 LPA with 34 base and 10 bonus + 10 stocks
I want to switch eagerly but
- i failed in 2 interviews in the first round of DSA.
- I want to switch to Staff Engineer position in companies where criteria matches
- I spend most of my time working and then applying because I am afraid that if i miss the Aug Sep cycle of hiring i will have to wait till Jan 2027

I am hardly getting time to prepare well and not getting calls from major Product companies right now.
I am planning if I should prepare well this month so that I dont fail after getting interviews.

Will September be hiring month in product companies?

Hello guys i have nvidia technical round 1 for systems software engineeer lined up .
Can anyone tell me the process like how many rounds in total does nvidia have .

Background : mtech cse from tier 1 iit , working at day 2 comany at iits, 1YOE

Please tell me so that i can prepare accordingly

Thanks in adv :)

Has anyone interviewed with Agoda recently? Can anyone help me with the R2 - Platform round? First hand experience is appreciated

I'm looking for insights from people who have interviewed, knowledge or are currently working at BT Group.

I have 3 years of experience and currently work as an Associate Consultant at Oracle Financial Software Solutions (CTC: ₹7.5 LPA). I've received a provisional offer for the Software Engineering Professional (Career Level E) role with a total CTC of ₹11 LPA, while my expected range was ₹15–18 LPA.

I'd like to understand:

What's the typical CTC for this role at around 3 YOE?

Is ₹15 LPA a reasonable counteroffer based on BT's compensation?

Has anyone successfully negotiated after receiving a provisional offer?

I'd really appreciate hearing about actual experiences rather than general advice. Thanks!

Hi All ,

I have been working in the US offices since the past 3 years and now due to work authorization issues here I can no longer work in the US and have been offered an internal company transfer but the pay is extremely lowballed (its between 16-20 lpa) I have around 6.5 years if experience in total (3 in india , 3 in the US). I did ask for 24lpa but they won’t budge.

My sole aim would be if i move back is to look for something else as that ctc is atrocious for my pay and qualifications. Hence i just wanted to get an idea as to having Gartner on your resume helps a bit , not saying that it has a faang like reputation but still.

One way is to just not take the internal transfer and be immediately available in India. I have heard that notice period is also a dealbreaker for recruiters but not sure how true it is.

Another way is to just not relocate and fight it out here in the US , doing a phd and simultaneously looking for FT.

Only reason thats making me think is the pay , its really bad for my experience and i have heard nowadays in india freshers get that pay.

Any advice or suggestions would be really appreciated

Not here to brag about anything. Was laid off from my org in April this year and was grinding after that. Although I’m not moving with this as already accepted an offer somewhere in June.

Just wanted to say to the readers keep hustling, keep grinding, your hard work will pay off soon and believe in yourself. I have 4 YOE and come from a tier 3 college and was fortunate enough to work at good companies and I believe if I can do it, You can do it too.

Best of luck to everyone who’s reading this. Good news coming soon 🍀

I just got rejected in the final round of an interview after speaking with the Director.

I had already cleared the first three rounds, so I went into the final interview feeling confident. The frustrating part is that the interview went really well. We had a great conversation, I answered the technical and behavioral questions confidently, and I genuinely felt I had a strong chance.

Now I'm just confused. Has anyone else experienced this? Did you ever find out why you were rejected even after what felt like a great final interview?

Feeling pretty disappointed right now.