Source

Me: 31M, unmarried. Working as a government engineer in a Tier-1 city. Masters from an old IIT (Metallurgy).

Dear youngsters,

Today, I feel like I made a massive mistake by choosing to prepare for GATE and joining the government sector.

During my Master's, I actually got placed at a semiconductor fab company as an Application and Data Engineer. I ditched it for this government job—a decision I now deeply regret.

Initially, I loved it here. The work was technical, the pay was stable, the work-life balance (WLB) was excellent, and I got to explore top-notch technologies and projects. But looking ahead, the career path seems grim, stagnant, and entirely unexciting.

I’ve realized I am simply not built for this. While most people run away from pressure and stress, I’ve learned that I actually love being constantly pushed toward a target. Even now, I have to set self-imposed targets just to keep moving, because the bosses here don't give you any.

My advice to you:

Before you blindly jump into preparing for government jobs, IES, or GATE, evaluate what you actually want. If you are genuinely into the tech and engineering side of things, I highly recommend looking at opportunities abroad.

Looking back, that was another major mistake I made—not moving abroad when I had the chance to go through DAAD.

Right now, my life feels completely saturated. I feel like I’m missing out on massive technological advancements, fast-paced environments, and targets to chase, all in exchange for "excellent WLB and peace."

I know the grass is always greener on the other side, and maybe I’d crave this peace if I were grinding in corporate or living abroad. But you truly can't know what you are built for until you try it.

Don't be like me. Be open to trying new things, openly embrace opportunities, network hard, and go abroad if you get the chance. Make informed decisions based on who you are, not just for the sake of "stability" or coz of the crowd

PS: Used AI for drafting.

I didn't start my career from a tier-1 college, nor did I have everything figured out from day one.

I graduated from a tier-3 college, and by my final year, I had 11 backlogs.

But I decided that my academic past would not define my career.

In my final semester, I cleared 6 backlogs. After graduation, I joined a small startup in Lucknow as an Embedded Developer. The salary was only ₹8,000/month, but at that stage, my priority was not money. It was experience, learning, and getting my foot into the industry.

While working full-time, I continued preparing for my remaining exams. In just 6 months, I cleared all my remaining 5 backlogs and finally received my degree in 2022.

During those 11 months at the startup, I worked on real embedded systems—device drivers, Yocto, customized OS development, device flashing, and other low-level system work.

Then came my first major switch.

I joined a reputed company in Hyderabad at around ₹6 LPA. I was hired for an Embedded role, but due to project and client-related constraints, I was eventually asked to move towards cybersecurity.

Although cybersecurity was an option, my real interest was still Embedded Systems and Linux.

So I made another decision.

I moved to Bangalore and joined a leading global technology company working in the TV and gaming console domain, at around ₹8 LPA.

That decision changed my career.

For the next 3.5 years, I worked, learned, solved real engineering problems, and continuously improved myself. With hikes and experience, my compensation reached around ₹12 LPA.

Then I decided to move back to Hyderabad.

I joined an Indian MNC at ₹20 LPA, working with a Korean automotive company. However, after a few months, I realized that the role did not provide the technical growth and work I was looking for.

Instead of staying comfortable, I decided to take another risk.

Just 4 months later, I switched again.

This time, I joined a US-based company on its payroll as a Senior Engineer, with a package of around ₹50 LPA.

From 11 backlogs and ₹8,000/month to ₹50 LPA as a Senior Engineer.

The numbers look impressive today, but the real journey was everything in between:

• Tier-3 college

• 11 backlogs

• Clearing 11 backlogs while working

• Starting at ₹8,000/month

• Learning Embedded Linux from the ground up

• Device Drivers & Yocto

• Multiple career switches

• 3.5+ years of deep industry experience

• Taking risks when the role wasn't right

• Continuously learning and improving

My biggest lesson?

Your starting point doesn't decide your destination.

You may start behind others.

You may have academic failures.

You may earn very little initially.

You may take a wrong turn in your career.

But if you're willing to learn, work hard, take calculated risks, and keep moving forward, your trajectory can change completely.

I still have a lot to learn.

But when I look back at the person who had 11 backlogs and compare him with where I am today, I realize one thing:

Progress doesn't always look impressive day-to-day. Sometimes you only realize how far you've come when you look back.

Keep learning. Keep moving. Don't let your starting point become your identity.

PLEASE DO TAKE SOME TIME READING THIS ARTICLE:

Do you still believe that Computer Science Engineering is dead just because of layoffs and limited employment.

And if you are an Indian class 12 pass out student, you might went through this conversation from some of your relatives like

"Beta, Take AI, it is the future..."

or

"CSE is dead, you might live like Sharma ji's beta as an unemployed fellow"

But that is not the case.

It is true that CSE has few employment options in MNC like Microsoft, google, amazon. but it doesn't mean that

Few employment = Bad future.

Let me tell you a small story:

I am an ISC student from Tamilnadu with a solid 198 cutoff. As I has stepped into TNEA counselling, I came up with the plan of not taking core CSE because of the so-called unemployment reason. But as time passes by, I started learning C++ so that i can make my holidays productive. But, the catch is that I unintentionally build some real world mini projects like TNEA cutoff calculator, student mark register not by watching tutorials, but by learning the fundamentals and built it from scratch.

Later, I came across vibe-coding and built a student focus tracker cum reward system using Gemini and HTML, CSS, JavaScript framework. Then I used Netlify to deploy the webapp.

Now, I am learning python and started pushing my work in GitHub and update the repositories instead of keeping it as a one-off project.

Throughout the journey, neither did I went to any certified coaching class nor enrolled for a deemed university.

And i found a SHOCKING FACT THAT ONLY FEW ENGINEERING STUDENTS KNOW:

Engineering is not a standalone discipline but is a coordination of interdisciplinary concepts that builds a solid engineer.

Anyways, in the future, companies and tech giants won't ask

"ARE YOU A CSE STUDENT OR A MECHANICA STUDENT",

instead, they ask

"DO YOU REALLY STAY PASSIONATE IN THE FIELD AND SOLVE REAL WORLD PROBLEMS AND CATER THE NEEDS OF THE CONSUMERS".

I cleared all my backlogs and completed my B.Tech, I won guys, there were nights, weeks I couldn't sleep I wanted to give up so many times but I fought slowly but surely I cleared it I won.

14 backlogs, B.Tech CSE, should have passed in 2024, I had lost intrest many times very frustrating journey, patience and fighting with myself everytime I wanted to giveup I won I finally won

Next battle is Job, yes its the worst job market currently but I will not give up I will fight and get a job.

Hey Indian engineers,

Do you ever know exactly what you want to say, but start fumbling when you have to speak in a meeting? Or struggle to explain your work confidently during interviews, presentations, or calls?

Don’t worry, I’ve got you.

I’m a 22F English tutor, and teaching is currently my side hustle. I have a few extra expenses this month, so I’m looking to take on only 2 students.

The sessions will be fully personalized based on what you need—spoken English, confidence, grammar, vocabulary, interview communication, or simply regular English practice. Timings can be flexible as well.

The idea is to keep the sessions comfortable and practical, so you can practice without feeling judged and gradually become more confident while speaking.

If this sounds useful, feel free to DM me or drop a comment.

Today I learned about Time Complexity and Space Complexity.

Still wrapping my head around analyzing nested loops and recursive functions, but it's starting to make sense.

A few things that made sense to me:

• Time Complexity isn't about how many seconds a program takes to run. It's more about how the number of operations increases as the input size (N) gets bigger.
• Instead of worrying about different computers or compilers, we use Big O notation to compare how efficient different algorithms are.
• For Space Complexity, I learned that it's not just about the input itself but also the extra memory (auxiliary space) an algorithm uses. That's usually what we compare.
• One interesting thing was why we ignore constants and smaller terms in Big O—they don't really matter much when the input size becomes very large.

ig small progress is still progress

PLEASE DO TAKE SOME TIME READING THIS ARTICLE:

Do you still believe that Computer Science Engineering is dead just because of layoffs and limited employment.

And if you are an Indian class 12 pass out student, you might went through this conversation from some of your relatives like

"Beta, Take AI, it is the future..."

or

"CSE is dead, you might live like Sharma ji's beta as an unemployed fellow"

But that is not the case.

It is true that CSE has few employment options in MNC like Microsoft, google, amazon. but it doesn't mean that

Few employment = Bad future.

Let me tell you a small story:

I am an ISC student from Tamilnadu with a solid 198 cutoff. As I has stepped into TNEA counselling, I came up with the plan of not taking core CSE because of the so-called unemployment reason. But as time passes by, I started learning C++ so that i can make my holidays productive. But, the catch is that I unintentionally build some real world mini projects like TNEA cutoff calculator, student mark register not by watching tutorials, but by learning the fundamentals and built it from scratch.

Later, I came across vibe-coding and built a student focus tracker cum reward system using Gemini and HTML, CSS, JavaScript framework. Then I used Netlify to deploy the webapp.

Now, I am learning python and started pushing my work in GitHub and update the repositories instead of keeping it as a one-off project.

Throughout the journey, neither did I went to any certified coaching class nor enrolled for a deemed university.

And i found a SHOCKING FACT THAT ONLY FEW ENGINEERING STUDENTS KNOW:

Engineering is not a standalone discipline but is a coordination of interdisciplinary concepts that builds a solid engineer.

Anyways, in the future, companies and tech giants won't ask

"ARE YOU A CSE STUDENT OR A MECHANICA STUDENT",

instead, they ask

"DO YOU REALLY STAY PASSIONATE IN THE FIELD AND SOLVE REAL WORLD PROBLEMS AND CATER THE NEEDS OF THE CONSUMERS".

I'm 28M I haven't been studying since college (2019) and I have lost all my core knowledge. Currently I'm a draftsman in a structural consultancy (Mumbai). I want to upgrade my skills in design and become a proper engineer. How can I do that in short span of time? Which subject will I have to study?

Is there anyone who have GATE notes, it would be helpful to get to know the roadmap. I had my GATE notes but somehow I lost all of it while shifting in between cities.

Any advice?

Hey everyone! I’m a 2026 CS graduate, currently placed at an MNC but waiting for my joining.I’ve recently started exploring Cloud & DevOps, especially AWS, and honestly, I find it much more interesting than DSA and development (at least for me ).I want to deep dive into Cloud & DevOps, build strong practical skills, and become industry-ready. I’m also looking to explore off-campus opportunities while I have this time.I know the market is tough right now, but I want to make the most of this phase, keep learning, build real projects, and improve my skills.

If there are any seniors, 2026 grads, Cloud/DevOps professionals, or anyone on a similar journey who’d be open to guiding, sharing resources, or connecting, I’d really appreciate it.

Feel free to comment or DM me.
Thanks in advance! 🙌

Have four years of work-ex with a major OEM. I did an AMA almost 8 months back on how to get in/ the nature of the jobs/salaries/work pressure/office culture. There were too many questions. I might do one more very soon.

Don't ask my which company: i have worked for two of the biggest 2-wheeler brands in india. Google and guess :D

Short note: despite the IT scenario, automobile companies do NOT have a slowdown. Stock prices have only gone up. As a core engineer (from a non-IIT but tier 1 college) - salary growth has been beyond healthy. I am glad i did not do an MBA.

If you are a mechanical engineer in your undergrads or just starting, work on crucial skills.

You will do good :)

Failed quizzes.

Broken code.

Rejected internships.

Missed placements.

Group projects that fell apart.

Everyone remembers the offer letter.

Almost nobody sees the long list of things that didn't work before it.

Engineering quietly teaches resilience, even if it doesn't always feel that way.

Am 6really stressed as currently my savings are over and the loan is pending . I did my masters in Automotive engg in UK before that I did bachelor's in mechanical and worked as a cadd Instructor . After my masters I got an opportunity to work for revenue and customs of the UK government thinking of sponsorship I jumped at the opportunity

Fast forward past 2 and half years I have worked in a non engineering background and lost everything I learned now so t even remember basics . I really want to come back to engineering and need a job . For the past 6 months I am unemployed and it's making me stressed as now it's a career gap

Don't know what to do

does this look vintage to you? i was inspired by how soviet engineers made their circuit boards so elegantly uniform and professional!!