r/developersDesi

I am very happy today. my time has come now.

A non-technical HR blindly rejected my tech resume.

BUT THEN, I TOOK MATTERS INTO MY OWN HANDS.

Made it 1-page; Attached it on my reddit profile & started engaging in tech community conversations.

Four days later, a senior tech guy directly approached me on reddit:-

1. Well, I'm a BTech CSE fresher of batch 2022-26. Both of us introduced ourselves. He is a software engineer, working remotely in a US based tech-heavy startup for years. He told me that I'll need to learn new tech as fast as possible and adapt accordingly.
2. Both of us hop onto a 30-minute G-meet call. We talked about my technical skills, projects, achievements etc. To assess my technical skills, practical hands-on experience and creative skills, he sent me an assignment.
3. Since I'm determined to get selected for the opportunity so I duly completed assignment 2-days before the last date. It involved making a complex table in React.js, without using HTML at all. It comprised of multiple columns, fields and entries. It also involved making UI appear even more richer. I built everything from scratch using TanStack Table Library, and sent him a GDrive link having screenshots, source code and live demo with explanation.

Finally, I got a reply that, within a few hours, he will share my CV (along with my complete assignment) to the founding team member(s).

Hi, I am working remotely right now and live in delhi and received an offer from a Bangalore-based startup for an onsite role as a backend developer. I would really appreciate your advice on whether it is worth it to move or not. I got paid 3 LPA in my current role, and they are offering 7 LPA with it, 0.25% ESOPs and a mentioned year-end bonus based on profit (though not mentioned in the offer letter). The offer letter didn't have any number of working days, fixed time, or notice period details, so I asked them about this, and they told me that in MNCs you will see the number of working days, leave, etc.; this is a startup, and there is no such thing, but they can add a notice period.

Do you think I should accept this offer? any advice would be appreciated.

Hi fellow developers,

As the title says, I was recently laid off by an MNC after working there for 6 months as a spring intern and 8 months full-time as a Software Engineer. I won’t name the company, but it is the same company that recently laid off around 4K people despite reporting strong profits this quarter.

I was laid off last Thursday. After following up with my director about the reason, I was told that the product was near completion and therefore less set of hands were needed, therefore company restructuring dictated this. Our business unit generally doesnt have great profit numbers so more people were impacted from around me. This layoff impacted my manager and almost half the team as well. My manager called me later to reassure me to not take it personally as I am not at fault here, my reviews were always positive and everyone was greatly pleased with my work. I’m currently on a 2-month notice period ending on 13th July, and I’ve been told that I’ll receive a decent severance package.

A little background about me:

• Graduated in 2025 from a Tier-1 college.
• Joined the company as a 6-month intern with a full-time offer.
• Worked in the Identity and Access Management domain.
• Tech stack at work:
  • Frontend: JavaScript, TypeScript, React, Redux-Saga
  • Backend: Go
  • Cloud/DevOps/DBMS: AWS
• Other languages I’m comfortable with: C, C++, C#, Python, Java.
• I also have a fair understanding of AI/ML.

I have a lot running through my mind right now, and being an anxious person doesn’t really help. But I want to get myself together and start preparing for interviews.

I would really appreciate guidance on the following:

1. Current company exit formalities What should I take care of before leaving? I have collected my salary slips for the past year. What other documents or things should I absolutely look into?
2. Maximizing interview chances Moving forward, how do I maximize my chances of getting interviews? Which platforms are the best bet right now: LinkedIn, Naukri, Instahyre, Wellfound, company career pages, or something else?
3. Reaching out to recruiters Is it appropriate to cold text HRs/recruiters on WhatsApp? What is the most optimal way to reach out? I would especially appreciate insights from people who have worked closely with recruiters or hiring teams.
4. Referrals How much difference do referrals actually make? Is it true that a referral from a manager/director carries more weight than a normal employee referral? A manager from Walmart told my friend otherwise, so I’m confused.
5. Salary negotiation How negotiable is salary for SDE roles? Is it usually fixed in MNCs and more negotiable in startups, or does it depend? What components are generally negotiable? How much can one push? Is there a real risk of a company pulling the offer during negotiation?
6. Startups vs MNCs Are startups as harsh as people say? In my current MNC, the workload wasn’t too bad. I had around 8 hours of work daily, but with time management I rarely had to work beyond working hours. What should I expect in startups in terms of culture, learning, work-life balance, and toxicity?
7. Interview preparation for SDE-1/SDE-2 roles What should I expect in interviews as a fresher/early-career engineer applying for SDE-1/SDE-2 roles, and maybe some SDE-3 roles? What topics would you recommend I study? I’m currently comfortable with:
   • DSA in C++
   • College-level OOP, DBMS, CN, OS
   • Basic system design concepts
   • Frontend/backend development from work experience

With AI-assisted development over the last few months, I feel like I’ve gotten a little rusty with writing code from scratch. How much code am I expected to write in interviews? How much HLD/LLD should I know at this experience level?

If I remember anything else, I’ll add it in the comments.

Now coming to the help part:

This is a difficult time for me. I’m only 8 months into my full-time career, excluding my 6-month internship, and I’m trying to get back on track as soon as possible.

If anyone has leads, referrals, advice, resume feedback, or can help in any way, I’d be extremely grateful. I’d be happy to share my resume. I’m hardworking, curious, well-versed with current tech, and a quick learner.

Also, can I get my resume reviewed or do mock interviews with some of you folks here? If not, what places or communities would you recommend for resume reviews and mock interviews?

Thanks in advance. Any guidance would mean a lot right now.

hi all,

i am a web developer working on an open source mobile app for a small grassroots ngo i am part of. we do environmental and community work, mostly tree plantation, animal support, and donation drives. looking for programming buddies who would find a real, deployed social impact project a fun thing to build alongside me.

about me. ist timezone. comfortable on the flutter side, learning more on backend.

the mvp is small. (1) sapling tracking with gps based location mapping. (2) photo updates to log growth over time. (3) basic reminders like watering schedules. (4) a simple module to connect donors with people in need. later phases would expand into animal support and emergency help. nothing locked in, we decide the stack and architecture together.

open to anyone working on flutter, backend, databases, ui/ux, maps, or qa and docs. experience level does not matter. beginners welcome if you are consistent.

fully volunteer, fully open source. no money, no equity, nothing commercial. the app will actually be used on the ground by the ngo, so the work is real. you also get a public github commit history on a social impact project for your portfolio.

if any of this sounds interesting, drop a comment or reddit chat me.

Hi fellow developers,

As the title says, I was recently laid off by an MNC after working there for 6 months as a spring intern and 8 months full-time as a Software Engineer. I won’t name the company, but it is the same company that recently laid off around 4K people despite reporting strong profits this quarter.

I was laid off last Thursday. After following up with my director about the reason, I was told that the product was near completion and therefore less set of hands were needed, therefore company restructuring dictated this. Our business unit generally doesnt have great profit numbers so more people were impacted from around me. This layoff impacted my manager and almost half the team as well. My manager called me later to reassure me to not take it personally as I am not at fault here, my reviews were always positive and everyone was greatly pleased with my work. I’m currently on a 2-month notice period ending on 13th July, and I’ve been told that I’ll receive a decent severance package.

A little background about me:

• Graduated in 2025 from a Tier-1 college.
• Joined the company as a 6-month intern with a full-time offer.
• Worked in the Identity and Access Management domain.
• Tech stack at work:
  • Frontend: JavaScript, TypeScript, React, Redux-Saga
  • Backend: Go
  • Cloud/DevOps/DBMS: AWS
• Other languages I’m comfortable with: C, C++, C#, Python, Java.
• I also have a fair understanding of AI/ML.

I have a lot running through my mind right now, and being an anxious person doesn’t really help. But I want to get myself together and start preparing for interviews.

I would really appreciate guidance on the following:

1. Current company exit formalities What should I take care of before leaving? I have collected my salary slips for the past year. What other documents or things should I absolutely look into?
2. Maximizing interview chances Moving forward, how do I maximize my chances of getting interviews? Which platforms are the best bet right now: LinkedIn, Naukri, Instahyre, Wellfound, company career pages, or something else?
3. Reaching out to recruiters Is it appropriate to cold text HRs/recruiters on WhatsApp? What is the most optimal way to reach out? I would especially appreciate insights from people who have worked closely with recruiters or hiring teams.
4. Referrals How much difference do referrals actually make? Is it true that a referral from a manager/director carries more weight than a normal employee referral? A manager from Walmart told my friend otherwise, so I’m confused.
5. Salary negotiation How negotiable is salary for SDE roles? Is it usually fixed in MNCs and more negotiable in startups, or does it depend? What components are generally negotiable? How much can one push? Is there a real risk of a company pulling the offer during negotiation?
6. Startups vs MNCs Are startups as harsh as people say? In my current MNC, the workload wasn’t too bad. I had around 8 hours of work daily, but with time management I rarely had to work beyond working hours. What should I expect in startups in terms of culture, learning, work-life balance, and toxicity?
7. Interview preparation for SDE-1/SDE-2 roles What should I expect in interviews as a fresher/early-career engineer applying for SDE-1/SDE-2 roles, and maybe some SDE-3 roles? What topics would you recommend I study? I’m currently comfortable with: With AI-assisted development over the last few months, I feel like I’ve gotten a little rusty with writing code from scratch. How much code am I expected to write in interviews? How much HLD/LLD should I know at this experience level?
   • DSA in C++
   • College-level OOP, DBMS, CN, OS
   • Basic system design concepts
   • Frontend/backend development from work experience

If I remember anything else, I’ll add it in the comments.

Now coming to the help part:

This is a difficult time for me. I’m only 8 months into my full-time career, excluding my 6-month internship, and I’m trying to get back on track as soon as possible.

If anyone has leads, referrals, advice, resume feedback, or can help in any way, I’d be extremely grateful. I’d be happy to share my resume. I’m hardworking, curious, well-versed with current tech, and a quick learner.

Also, can I get my resume reviewed or do mock interviews with some of you folks here? If not, what places or communities would you recommend for resume reviews and mock interviews?

Thanks in advance. Any guidance would mean a lot right now.

Help ! I am used to cpp. I did dsa with cpp.now i have heard many are doing lld using Java and also advising this. So can I stick to c++ ?

​

I graduated in 2025, thought of pursuing MCA but took a full stack web development course with duration of 1 year. My doubt is that if I am late to become a web developer, I am 23?

I have learned a lot in this 1 year and will start applying for jobs from June starting. Right now I am building full stack projects for my resume.

My interview experience was not very positive overall. The interviewer did not turn on the camera or properly introduce himself at the beginning, which made the interaction feel somewhat impersonal.

The interview was heavily focused on syntax-based and theoretical questions around C#, SQL, and related technologies. While technical depth is important, I felt there was limited discussion around real-world problem solving, system design, practical experience, or conceptual understanding gained through industry work.

At times, the conversation also felt more focused on identifying small mistakes rather than encouraging a collaborative technical discussion. A more engaging and professional interaction would have created a much better candidate experience.

I believe interview processes reflect a company’s culture, and small things such as proper introductions, professional communication, and balanced technical evaluation can make a significant difference.

Overall, it was a disappointing experience compared to the more constructive and professional interview processes I have encountered elsewhere.

EDIT / UPDATE : No response what so ever from HR, whether its yes or no.. simple silence. Also this interviewer Vinay Gupta was not even able to speak proper english, i dont know from where they pick such sample for working in thier organization.

Got promoted this cycle at a mid-size startup (~2 YOE, engineering role), but overall hikes across the company seem a bit conservative this year.

Wanted to understand two things from people in similar situations:

1. What % hike is considered a strong outcome in the current market alongside a promotion?
2. After reaching this stage/title, how difficult was it for you to switch to better-paying product companies/startups?

Trying to get a realistic sense of the market right now.

Hey folks,

We’re looking for a few strong engineers in the team and thought Reddit would be a better place than generic job portals.

If you have:
• 4+ years experience → SE-3
• 6+ years experience → SSE

and experience with:
• .NET / ASP.NET Core
• Azure
• Angular or React
• Microservices / APIs
• Some exposure to AI tools, Copilot, OpenAI, or AI-assisted development

Hit me up with your resume

I’m a frontend developer with ~1 year experience in a very small service-based company (4–5 employees).

Salary progression:

• ₹3k first month
• ₹5k for next few months
• currently ₹10k/month

Stack:

• React.js
• Next.js
• React Native
• Tailwind CSS
• API integrations

I’ve worked on real client projects like healthcare platform, booking systems, CMS, ecommerce frontend, etc. So I do have actual production experience, deadlines, bug fixing, UI work, and mobile app work.

But current situation is bad:

• company has almost no projects now
• may shut down
• still no proper offer letter/documentation

Another issue:
I can make things work in projects, but I feel weak in fundamentals because most learning happened through work, debugging, AI tools, and trial/error instead of proper mentorship.

I’m also weak in communication/confidence which makes switching harder.

Now I’m confused:

• Is frontend-only becoming risky now?
• Should I move toward backend/full-stack?
• How risky is my current situation?
• What salary should I realistically target after ~1 year experience?
• How do people switch from tiny unstable companies into better companies?

Looking for practical advice from people who’ve gone through something similar.

Had my TCS Ninja interview on 7th May at TCS Olympus, Thane.

Reached the venue, took the visitor ID card and went inside. First they verified all my documents. During verification, they noticed that my middle name was missing in the application form. My Aadhaar has my father’s name as the middle name, so they pointed out the mismatch. Since my interview was getting scheduled immediately, they told me to attend the interview first and later update the application form details.

The interview was mostly resume-based. MR, TR and HR were sitting together.

Interviewer first asked about my skills. I mentioned Python, ML and Data Science. After that he suddenly asked me about interfaces, which I couldn’t answer properly because that’s more related to Java. I clarified that my main skills were Python/ML/Data Science.

Then he asked about the 4 pillars of OOPs, which I answered correctly.

After that he moved to DBMS questions:

• Normalization
• Types of keys

I was able to answer those.

Since NumPy was mentioned in my resume, he also asked about dimensions in NumPy. I got confused there and couldn’t answer properly.

Lastly the hr and mr people asked questions.

After the interview they said I can leave, no 'any questions for us' was asked.

They also asked whether it was my first interview. Not sure if that was a good or bad sign.

After the interview they initially told me to wait for updating the application form, but later they said I could leave.

Hi everyone,
I’m currently a CSE student (graduating in 2029) and I am trying to lock in my strategy for internship prep.
Right now, I am learning DSA and building my foundation in C++. However, the syntax can be incredibly heavy when I'm just trying to focus on core logic and problem-solving. I recently received advice from a senior to just switch to Python—they mentioned the cleaner syntax makes interview rounds much easier and that it has massive industry demand anyway.
The switch is definitely tempting, but I have no idea how this actually looks to recruiters and hiring managers.
My biggest fear is that I have a bad habit of jumping from one shiny object to another. I’ve already bounced around a bit between full-stack web dev, different tools, and now C++. I'm worried that dropping C++ for Python right now is just me running away from hard concepts instead of finally building discipline.
My questions for the recruiters and engineers here:

1. What do FAANG/top-tier companies actually expect from freshers? Does the language I use for OA's and interviews matter to you?
2. Is it better to just suffer through C++ to build a hardcore, low-level logic foundation, or is Python completely fine (and maybe even optimal) for passing the bar and landing internships in the current market?
   Any harsh truths or industry insights would be really appreciated. Thanks!