u/Extension-Still-8417

I'm entering my 7th semester of Computer Science and recently received an on-campus offer as a Digital Specialist Engineer at Infosys (6.25 LPA). I'm grateful to have an offer in this market, but my college has a placement policy that doesn't allow students with an offer to sit for more companies.

My long-term goal is to land a 10+ LPA software engineering or AI/ML role, so off-campus seems to be my only option now.

A bit about my profile:

• CSE undergraduate from a Tier-3 college in India
• 9.8 CGPA
• Multiple AI/ML and full-stack projects
• 1 AI/ML Internship at a startup.
• Comfortable with Python, FastAPI, React, SQL, and machine learning fundamentals
• Currently preparing DSA more seriously

Some questions I have:

1. Where did you find most of your interview opportunities? (LinkedIn, Wellfound, referrals, career pages, etc.)
2. How many applications did it take before you started getting interviews?
3. What made the biggest difference in getting shortlisted?
4. Should I focus mainly on DSA, projects, networking, referrals, or competitive programming?
5. Are there any companies or hiring platforms that freshers often overlook?
6. Is there anything you wish you had done during your 7th and 8th semesters?

I'm willing to put in the work over the next 6–8 months, and I'd really appreciate practical advice or lessons from your own journey.

Thanks in advance!

I'm entering my 7th semester of Computer Science and recently received an on-campus offer as a Digital Specialist Engineer at Infosys (6.25 LPA). I'm grateful to have an offer in this market, but my college has a placement policy that doesn't allow students with an offer to sit for more companies.

My long-term goal is to land a 10+ LPA software engineering or AI/ML role, so off-campus seems to be my only option now.

A bit about my profile:

• CSE undergraduate from a Tier-3 college in India
• 9.8 CGPA
• Multiple AI/ML and full-stack projects
• 1 AI/ML Internship at a startup.
• Comfortable with Python, FastAPI, React, SQL, and machine learning fundamentals
• Currently preparing DSA more seriously

Some questions I have:

1. Where did you find most of your interview opportunities? (LinkedIn, Wellfound, referrals, career pages, etc.)
2. How many applications did it take before you started getting interviews?
3. What made the biggest difference in getting shortlisted?
4. Should I focus mainly on DSA, projects, networking, referrals, or competitive programming?
5. Are there any companies or hiring platforms that freshers often overlook?
6. Is there anything you wish you had done during your 7th and 8th semesters?

I'm willing to put in the work over the next 6–8 months, and I'd really appreciate practical advice or lessons from your own journey.

Thanks in advance!

Just got the news that I’ve been selected for the Digital Specialist Engineer (DSE) role through HackWithInfy! My department initially referred to it as a "Digital Specialist Trainee" role, so I'm assuming it's the standard DSE position.

The offer is 6.25 LPA + 75k joining bonus. I have a few questions for those who have gone through this or are currently working there:

In-hand salary: What does the actual monthly in-hand usually look like after deductions?

Role Experience: How is the work-life balance and technical exposure in the DSE role? Is it mostly maintenance, or do you get to work on actual dev/innovation projects?

Career Strategy: Given the current market, should I treat this as a solid base and accept it, or is it better to hold this as a backup while continuing to look for better-paying product-based roles?

Appreciate any insights or tips for someone starting out!