I’m a 2026 grad, Computer Science & Economics student at BITS Pilani, and I’m honestly a bit stuck right now and could use some advice from people who’ve been through this.

My background is:
**Oracle:** worked on 15+ SQL pipelines, query-plan/index/join optimisation, Oracle 23ai Vector Search, and an OJET dashboard.
**Research thesis in Germany:** completed a funded research thesis at Ruhr University Bochum on **adversarially robust quantized neural networks**, working with PyTorch, CIFAR-10, FGSM/PGD attacks and 2-bit/3-bit quantization.
**Morgan Stanley:** Worked with the **Asia Economics & Rates desk**, building an analytics platform and XGBoost based yield-curve forecasting system.

I’ve also built a few projects outside work a **limit-order-book/trading simulator** with FIFO matching, latency, cancellations, inventory/P&L and ablation analysis, and a **RAG personal-finance assistant** using embeddings, FAISS and LLM APIs.

The frustrating part is the timing. My **Oracle PPO was revoked because of organizational/headcount changes**. I then interned at Morgan Stanley, but they told me they **can’t give an offer too because of headcount**.

I subsequently got another offer in 19 days of my offer revoke at a MNC, but they’re now delaying things as well.

So I’m basically back in the market at the worst possible time, despite having what I think is a reasonably solid profile.

I’m happy to share my **resume, GitHub and credentials over DM** if anyone wants to take a look. I’d especially appreciate feedback/referrals/leads from people hiring engineers or founders who can tell me where my profile actually fits.

Thanks - genuinely appreciate any advice.

So do tech companies really take freshers with good skills through interviews and technical rounds or is it mostly network and do company also look for dsa skills? Should I also start leetcoding or focus more on projects? Any tips

I'm currently a 3rd-year Computer Engineering student and I'm confused about what I should focus on for my career.

I know DSA is important, but I don't want to limit myself to only traditional programming languages and regular DSA practice. I’m interested in exploring different domains like Web Development, Data Science, AI/ML, Cloud, Cybersecurity, etc.

I also want to explore a domain where I can actually build something interesting and different, especially projects that I could use for hackathons. I don't want to keep making the usual CRUD websites or basic projects. I want to learn the actual logic behind building something, solve real problems, and gain skills that are useful at an industry level.

So what domains would you recommend I explore as a Computer Engineering student?

What are some less-common/interesting technologies or domains where I could build unique hackathon projects while also learning valuable industry-level concepts?

Also, is DSA necessary for every domain, or are there career paths where I can focus more on other skills?

I'd really appreciate advice from people who are already working in the industry or have been through this stage.

Every recruiter wants "the best IIT talent."

But uk what's the weird part.

A recruiter looking at an IIT student's resume still has very little idea what that person can actually do.

Sure... they can see:

IIT

branch

CGPA

internships

projects

skills

But none of these necessarily answer the most important question:

"If I give this person a real problem tomorrow, can they solve it?"

And this becomes even more interesting with students who don't have traditional profiles.

I mean, someone might have:

8.1 CGPA + 2 shipped products + freelance experience + open-source contributions

while someone else has:

9.5 CGPA + no meaningful work outside academics.

The resume may make the second candidate look stronger.

The actual work might suggest otherwise.

Here's one question for everyone:

If you were designing the perfect hiring system for IIT students, what signals would you actually use?

Would love to hear from students, recruiters and founders.

I’m a 2026 grad, Computer Science & Economics student at BITS Pilani, and I’m honestly a bit stuck right now and could use some advice from people who’ve been through this.

My background is:
Oracle: worked on 15+ SQL pipelines, query-plan/index/join optimisation, Oracle 23ai Vector Search, and an OJET dashboard.
Research thesis in Germany: completed a funded research thesis at Ruhr University Bochum on adversarially robust quantized neural networks, working with PyTorch, CIFAR-10, FGSM/PGD attacks and 2-bit/3-bit quantization.
Morgan Stanley: Worked with the Asia Economics & Rates desk, building an analytics platform and XGBoost based yield-curve forecasting system.

I’ve also built a few projects outside work a limit-order-book/trading simulator with FIFO matching, latency, cancellations, inventory/P&L and ablation analysis, and a RAG personal-finance assistant using embeddings, FAISS and LLM APIs.

The frustrating part is the timing. My Oracle PPO was revoked because of organizational/headcount changes. I then interned at Morgan Stanley, but they told me they can’t give an offer too because of headcount.

I subsequently got another offer in 19 days of my offer revoke at a MNC, but they’re now delaying things as well.

So I’m basically back in the market at the worst possible time, despite having what I think is a reasonably solid profile.

I’m happy to share my resume, GitHub and credentials over DM if anyone wants to take a look. I’d especially appreciate feedback/referrals/leads from people hiring engineers or founders who can tell me where my profile actually fits.

Thanks - genuinely appreciate any advice.

Hey peeps,

So I am 22 (graduated last year from a T1 engineering college and have 1 yr. experience), and like many others, I am also working as a front-end SDE in a remote startup. My pay is good (~2LPM fixed) thanks to the T1 tag, but I have literally no interest in development. I literally get so tired after reading code and question my life choices. The only reason I survive is because I am hardworking (I literally spend 10-12 hrs every day and weekend working) and have a great manager and Claude.

But I don't feel it's worth it. Like, if I don't like something inherently, then I can't become great at it, right? It will stay as a burden and keep me scared and I will always feel like an imposter.
Moreover, SW Development in itself is going a bit of downhill, and I only do front-end react work.

I am good with numbers/algebra and communication, so i was thinking of going for an MBA from top Indian B-schools, but even that doesn't make sense ROI-wise. For an MBA abroad, the risk and investment seem too high, and I am kind of naive in my knowledge about abroad MBAs. I thought of transferring to product roles, but in my startups, the role hierarchy is pretty strict, and I don't feel they will appreciate my request for an internal transfer.

I have been thinking a lot about this, and it's impacting my mental health at this point, like the more I stay here, the more I go away from the work that I will actually like. Please help me out. I am pretty sure some of you have been in this situation before.

Im a 3rd-semester CSE student and I’m primarily targeting HFT... however, I also want to keep Google and other top MNCs as strong alternatives, since HFT is much harder 😭😭

My immediate goal is to land a strong internship within the next 1 year that is in my 5th sem... whether that ends up being at Google an HFT firm or another top tech company

Im trying to prepare intelligently without spreading myself too thin...how would you recommend balancing DSA, competitive programming, C++, CS fundamentals, systems knowledge, projects development, and internships from 3rd semester onward..cause I know if nothing works out full stack development can only save my arse I can't leave it as well 😭

If you were starting from my position, what would you prioritize and what would you not spend too much time on?

I just joined cognizant through on campus drive at 4lpa and I am unhappy. Most of my friends have better jobs. I tried looking off campus but got no results. I want to switch ASAP and I am willing to do as much hardwork as I can. Need serious guidance someone help me.

2023 pass out (B.tech-IT). Wasted 1 year searching for a job. I joined a non-it role (NLP-Analyst) in my locality for Rs.10000 a month and worked there for 2 years. Now I quit that too due to a lot of pressure.

I got a lot of advice. I am advised to learn Python and SQL to land in a Data Analyst job. I am advised to pursue MBA and write GATE exams. Some advised me to prepare for Government or Bank exams.

The problem is I am not that skillful. I am not good at any programming language. I have low concentration and I am very slow at learning. Plus I am really bad at communication. What I really need to do. Please don't hesitate and give me an honest answer.

Hi everyone,

I've been feeling stuck in my current job for a while now and wanted to get some advice from people who've been in a similar situation.

I joined the company as a fresher almost 3 years ago. Initially, I worked as a Data Engineer, building data pipelines and working on actual development tasks, which helped me learn a lot.

Over the past few months, though, I've been moved almost entirely to testing. I've repeatedly asked my manager to move me back to a development project, but nothing has changed.

On top of that, my team changed last year, and ever since then I've felt the work environment has become very political. My manager is extremely diplomatic and rarely supports the team, and my tech lead almost always agrees with leadership instead of standing up for the team. It's become frustrating and has started affecting my mental health.

I've decided it's time to switch. The only challenge is that I have a 90-day notice period.

Current Profile:
- Experience: 3 years (completing this month)
- Title: Data Engineer II
- CTC: ₹14 LPA (Base)
- Notice Period: 90 days

Tech Stack:
- Snowflake
- Azure
- Python
- PySpark
- Databricks
- Apache Airflow
- Shell Scripting
- GitHub Actions (CI/CD)
- Teradata
- MySQL

I'd really appreciate advice on:

1. How should I prepare for Data Engineering interviews?
2. What topics should I focus on?
3. Is a 90-day notice period going to make switching significantly harder?
4. Which companies would be good targets with my experience?

Any guidance, interview experiences, or preparation roadmap would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Has anyone here recently given the Hackerrank SDE-2 system design interview for a backend role?

The recruiter mentioned it is component-level design, focusing on DB schema, APIs, race conditions, consistency, and failure handling.

Would really appreciate any insights on

What kind of problem was asked?

How deep did they go?

Any specific topics I should prepare?

I'm waiting for my TCS JL. One thing I’m especially confused about is dsa.Is dsa really necessary for a fresher joining tcs? ( iam not from CS background) How much dsa should I know before joining? Or would it be better to focus more on programming basics, SQL, Git, etc.?

Would really appreciate some advice from TCS freshers/employees or anyone who has been in a similar situation. :)

Hi everyone,

I’m currently pursuing my MCA and I’ll be graduating around mid-2028. I haven’t specialized in any particular stream yet, so I still have enough time to choose a direction and build my skills properly.

Right now, I’m confused between Machine Learning/AI and Backend Development.

The problem is that I would have to learn both almost from the beginning. I’m considering building projects in both areas initially to understand which one suits me better, but I don’t want to spend a year jumping between technologies without becoming job-ready in either.

My current goal is to get a good software/tech job after my MCA, preferably with strong salary growth and good long-term career prospects.

For people already working in the industry or who recently graduated:

• How is the job market for ML/AI vs Backend Development for freshers?
• Which one has better opportunities for someone graduating in 2028?
• Is ML/AI realistically worth pursuing as a fresher, considering the entry-level competition and requirements?
• Would focusing on Java + Spring Boot + Backend + DSA + Cloud be a safer route?
• Should I build projects in both first and then decide, or commit to one path early?
• What skills/projects would actually make an MCA fresher stand out in either field?

I’m not looking for a “follow your passion” answer 😅. I’d really appreciate practical advice based on the current job market and what you think the market might look like around 2028.

Thanks!

A 2025 grad currently working for a US based company remotely , had no hopes for employment from college but god blessed me , luckily got the offer in a hackathon/expo ( long story ) , Primarily work is on Full-Stack & sometimes ops related in the new sub products of the Org.

CTC around : 21LPA ( Joining year only , further CTC - 20LPA )
Base - 14L
Bonus - 2L
Home Setup Allowance - 1L ( around $950 )

been almost 2 years now , working remotely feeling stagnated.

I have two options now :

1. work hard & switch to Product Based Companies for a higher CTC ,
2. Abroad Studies

i am genuinely confused between two options since
1st choice has
PROs :

1. lil to no investment just pure hard work & luck for cracking PBCs ,
2. low risk high reward CONs :
3. Indian Tech culture tends to suck because of Work life balance and 2.the ratio of Quality Life for the amount of Tax we pay in Ind.

for the 2nd choice there is
PROs :

1. Better WLB ,
2. Quality Life

CONs :

1. a high investment and lil certainty of PR because of new Geo-political instability and
2. rising housing / inflation problems ,

so i am kinda confused regarding what decision to take , shall i grind hard & switch for PBC roles or take a risk and move abroad for studies ???

need your gen guidance & suggestions ...

I graduated in June 2026 and have been selected for TCS Ninja. However, I currently don’t know when my joining will happen, so I potentially have around 6 months of free time.

My parents are suggesting that I prepare for GATE 2027 and go for MTech, but I’m really confused about whether that’s the right decision for me.

My concerns are:

If I start preparing for GATE now, the exam will be in February and MTech admissions would be around April/May. That feels like almost one year going into this decision.

I have already taken a 2-year gap between 12th and college, so I’m worried about delaying my career even further.

Honestly, I don’t really want to study anymore. I feel like I want to start working and enter the corporate world.

At the same time, I don’t want to waste these 5–6 months while waiting for TCS joining.

I’m currently interested in learning DSA, Python, AI/ML, etc. and building skills that can help me get better software/AI roles in the future.

I don’t think I can properly prepare for GATE and build these skills at the same time. GATE CSE preparation would require me to focus on subjects like C, OS, CN, DBMS, COA, etc., while I’m currently trying to move toward Python/AI and software development.

So my main question is:
If I decide not to do MTech/GATE and stay in the corporate path, will spending these 6 months seriously learning DSA + development + Python/AI actually help me later?

For example, could I use this time to build projects, improve DSA, learn backend/AI and eventually use those skills to switch from TCS to a better company?

Or would doing MTech from a good IIT/NIT give me a significantly better career trajectory and make the extra 1–2 years worth it?

I’m especially looking for advice from people who are already working in the software industry, have worked in TCS/service-based companies and switched, or have done MTech and entered the industry afterward.

If you were in my position, what would you choose and why?
Also, any suggestions on how I should use these 6 months while waiting for TCS joining would be really appreciated.

\* Used AI for writing the post \*

5 years experience, Java/Spring Boot backend, IAM engineer. Currently at ca****ini in Pune, 13 LPA. Three options in front of me, laying out each with pros/cons as I see them.

**Option 1: Insight Global (staffing) → placed at CSC, Bangalore**
- 29 LPA, fully fixed CTC
- CSC itself is a solid company, and I was interviewed twice directly by CSC's own team before this offer came through

Pros:
\- CTC is fully fixed, 29 LPA
\- CSC is a good company

Cons:
\- Relocation to Bangalore
\- It's a contract role for the 6 months. Insight Global has told me CSC is looking for a long-term hire and plans to convert me to their full-time payroll after 6 months. When I raised concerns about this on a call with Insight Global's hiring manager, he offered to set up a call with CSC's team lead and the manager who interviewed me, so I can get direct confirmation from them too — which helped a bit, but I don't have it in writing yet.

The reviews of insight global is not that good. And many people have said that if contract ends or doesn't get renewed, the firm immediately terminates the employment. But they have scheduled a call with CSC mangers to assure me that after 6 months they have the intention of converting me to full-time role at CSC.

**Option 2: CGI, Hyderabad**
\- 26 LPA + 1.8 LPA shift/ODC allowance + 2L joining bonus

Pros:
\- Direct full-time role, not a contract — more job security than the Insight Global option

Cons:
\- Relocation to Hyderabad
\- 5 days work from office, no hybrid at all
\- Strictly ODC-based, shift timing 1 PM to 10 PM (timing itself isn't too bad, but the 5-day WFO is the bigger concern for me)

**Option 3: Current company retention**
\- CTC raised from 13 to 20 LPA
\- onsite role at Australia
\- Visa process for onsite would start as soon as I withdraw my resignation, however the visa arrival and actually traveling to australia would take roughly 6 months or more.

Pros:
\- If everything goes right, the Australia move would mean saving significantly more than what I'd save in India
\- If I see no real progress toward the Australia move in 5-6 months, I can restart my job search then — but from a 20 LPA base instead of my current 13 LPA, which puts me in a stronger position for the next round of job hunt

Cons:
\- No timeline or written confirmation on the Australia move — could take 6-7 months or longer
\- The actual role/project in Australia isn't confirmed to align with my current skill set — I might need to pick up something new
\- Initial project duration is 6-7 months, and while my manager says it typically gets extended, that's not guaranteed. That said, I've seen colleagues go on similar 6-7 month assignments and end up staying in Australia for 4-5 years, so extensions do happen in practice and its very common.

Trying to make this decision on data rather than gut feel. Would appreciate any real experiences — especially around staffing-agency contract-to-hire conversions, or onsite rotation promises actually panning out (or not).

Career advice from people outside Software/IT
I’m an SDE at an MNC with 1.5+ YOE, from a Tier-1 engineering college. While things are going fine on paper, I’m increasingly unsure if software is the right long-term career for me.

The constant layoffs, job insecurity, and competition have started getting to me. On LinkedIn, most decent SDE roles seem to have 100+ applicants very quickly. In comparison, when I look at fields like MBA/consulting/finance/product, many openings seem to have far fewer applicants.
I know LinkedIn numbers don’t tell the whole story, and every field has its own challenges. I’m just trying to understand whether there are career paths that might suit me better.

For people from other fields:
How is your job stability and work-life balance?
How difficult is switching companies?
What does salary growth look like over 5–10 years?
Given my background and current SDE salary, what fields would you suggest exploring?
If you were in my position, would you stay in software?
Would really appreciate honest perspectives from people who have actually made the transition or work outside tech.

If possible, mention your field + YOE + approximate compensation so I can understand the context.

I am 28Y Male, Joined MNC in 2022 as ASE and was in the organisation till 2024 during my tenure I was assigned a pre recorded sessions training regarding, Java, Spring Boot, Microservices etc. which lasted for more than 1 year, one of my senior gone through this so called training for around 1.5 years from his DOJ, but luckily after the training he got a project after so much of thousand time asking for project from manager. After my training completion, they conducted a technical test which I cleared and my manager told me now I will get a chance to work on project as I cleared the test, which never happened.

After sometime I started asking for project from my manager & from my delivery manager. Both use to tell me you have to wait and all. After sometime they moved me officially to bench which lasted for 6 months with no salary. For 6 months during this time I didn't get a chance to work on a project and then I had to resign being 6 months on bench.

I started looking for opportunities with whatever experience I had with me, but as I didn't have past 6 months salary slips, nobody was ready to hire. I kept trying trying.. After sometime I lost hope and got stuck with some personal affairs, was mentally so tired with things happening around me, I was not able to focus on my career, Life kept challenging me one thing after another.

It led 2+ years to overcome with things happened to me in my personal life. Sometimes, I still gets traumatised but doing well so far.

Now I am trying so hard to make comeback after 2+ years of gap and all. Preparing theory, building projects etc. But looking at the current market situation, I am getting into depression, losing hope yet trying and trying.

I am so confused that, Either I should focus on my current tech stack or shall I work on projects or should I learn AI first.

Sometimes it is so frustrating and demotivating, I just can't understand what is happening with me or how will I end up. I can't tell anybody what is going on with me, everyone is busy in there own stuff.

Feels like I wasted my life and now nobody will give me a chance.

I just want to work.

My qualifications:

10th – 90%

12th – 71% PCM, 75% PCB

I was a NEET dropper.

20F

I need suggestions for an online BCA program. I know it’s August and I’m quite late due to some other plans, but now I’m planning to do an online BCA.

I’ve looked at IGNOU, but there are many bad reviews about poor marking and delays in results.

So, can you suggest some better online BCA programs that are UGC-recognised? In the long term, I’m probably planning to do an MCA from a top-tier institute.

I’m thinking of doing a decent online BCA while building my skills alongside on my own, and taking some affordable courses if required.

I come from a lower-middle-class family, and due to some emergency, I currently don’t have enough money to move to another city for a BCA.