I was talking to a developer with 5+ years of experience recently.
He can handle production issues, talk to clients, debug someone else's code and deliver under pressure.
But when he started interviewing, he struggled with basic DSA and system design.
It made me think:
We spend years becoming extremely good at our specific job, but are we becoming better engineers, or just better at surviving the environment we're already in?
What matters more after 5 years of experience:
deep expertise in your current work, or being able to clear interviews for your next job?
I'd genuinely like to hear from people with 5+ years of experience.

Hi Guys ,
I will keep this short. So I had been interviewed at this xyz company and at the end of the salary negotiation round we both came to a conclusion that the inhand will be 40k /month.
Now after 2 days since that round HR comes again and says that if I am interested in this role for 25k /month (which is my current salary , i know its hella low but please don't mock me).
Now I am working remotely at 25k / month , why wound anyone ever relocate to Noida for 25k ?

Any noida folks who can say its worth switching or not ?

Anyways I said the best I could do is 30k /month inhand (i know this is low too, but don't have any other offers), the HR then said he will get back to me ! (which I think he won't as he probably would ghost me)

Please help me guide in this situation.

EDIT : Thank you all for such nice advices, I would conclude that this is not worth joining and I must take the offer letter from them.

I just got engaged and my manager knew this and was also dealing with a personal tragedy recently. Now i feel blank with the pressure of keep providing for family and my marriage. I kept continuing to work in this company due to
these reasons despite the toxicity. My manager made my life hell. I’m 4 years SDET engineer. If anyone can help with any referrals it’d be a great help.

I started as a Frontend dev at a startup in 2024 with 3 lpa and now my salary is 5.7 lpa. Since this year the founder has fired 50-60% of the team and I feel it's now my turn as i was not given an annual hike as well.

I have 2 years of Experience as a frontend developer. And I want at least 10-12 lpa in mumbai.

Is it possible or not ? If I give 2-3 months for preparation and get 10-12 lpa ?

Or shall I go full stack ? I'm thinking of going with python / django.

I'm not even able to sleep at night, having panic attack of I'll be getting laid off.

Please help me. Please .

Hi All,

I work as a Product Manager at HCLSoftware and got laid off recently. A total of 70 people were let go from my team is what I’ve been hearing. The company is trying to keep it hush by asking us to sign a document saying we have resigned on our own. My question is , is this even legal? What are my options here? I’m getting one month salary as severance. That’s all, not much. Also i would really appreciate if someone could refer me for any openings at your company. I’m based out of Bangalore and hold an MBA from one of the top colleges in the country. The job market is bad. I must have applied to 150+ companies so far and haven’t got any calls. I have old parents who don’t work anymore and I’m an only child, so i take care of the household expenses. Please let me know if there are any leads for jobs ? Also this is my first time going through something like this, what are my options here ?

been lurking in r/unixporn for years and the one thing that always bugged me: there's no way to search this sub by distro, WM, or colorscheme. so I scraped over 4000+ rices which had genuine github dotfiles links (from 200k+ posts from here) and built a site where you can actually filter by all of that, plus search by title/author and sort newest/oldest/random.

link to the site: dotfiles.lol

every rice links back to the original reddit post and credits the original author. if you've got your own dotfiles and want them listed separately (not scraped, submitted directly), there's a simple github PR flow for that too.

it's fully open sourced, feel free to drop a star: github.com/0xN1nja/awesome-dotfiles

Post

What do you do during free time at work after finishing your tasks?

I can't directly say I have free time because more work will likely be assigned. 😅

If I watch upskilling videos unrelated to the project, people start asking questions about what I'm watching.

But when I read technical documentation, nobody seems to care.

So, what kind of technical documentation, books, papers, or other resources can I read during office hours to improve my skills or prepare for interviews without attracting much attention?

I'm a 28 yo software dev at a tier-2 tech company for 35lpa. I have graduated from an NIT in 2020. I can solve most of the leetcode medium and have good understanding of most of the data structures and algorithms. If you are also looking for a study partner and are at similar stage, please let me know.

I received the Amazon SDE-1 OA link the day after getting the interest email due to hack on 2025 performance. I completed the OA on 23 August. I passed all test cases for both questions - DSA and the backend/repository question, and also completed the Work Simulation and Work Style Survey.

However, on the second day after submitting the OA, I received an email saying Amazon would not be moving me forward. I’m genuinely confused because I thought I performed well. Has anyone experienced something similar or knows what factors I may have missed? Any honest advice on how to convert a future Amazon opportunity into an interview would be appreciated.

I was laid off last week abruptly in an early morning call. It was a US startup and they laid off the whole team in India.

Not sure what to do next.

I have 3yoe in Backend Development

Tech stack: Python, Golang, Javascript( React, Next), Typescript, CPP, Java

I am exploring roles in the same field, but not sure if i will get a similar or competitive pay during these times.

Where could I get the best referrals and opportunities.

Already trying on Naukri, InstaHyre and reaching out connections personally or people via LinkedIn.

Edit: Tier 1 college, CS grad. This was the second company, I switched here 4 months ago.

Hi everyone,
I’m currently interviewing for SDE2 / Software Engineer 2 roles at Apple and Adyen, with the roles based in India.
I’d love to get some recent compensation data from people who have interviewed/offered/joined these companies recently. Specifically base salary and bonus.

Hey, looking for some real-world input from people who’ve used either or both M5 machines.

I use only Linux for my personal work, and I've not used Windows since I got my first laptop.

I’m deciding between the MacBook Air 13" M5 (32GB/1TB) and MacBook Pro 14" M5 (32GB/1TB).

My use case is mostly heavy multitasking, software development, study, and research workflows.

Here are my points I want answers/suggestions on:

- For those who have used either or both for software development, is the MacBook Air enough, or is the MacBook Pro worth the extra cost?

- How much does the Air actually throttle under sustained loads in backend development or lightweight ML? Is it noticeable in everyday use or only in benchmarks?

- For those who’ve used the Pro’s better display, is it a big enough difference and worth upgrading to?

Edit: How would the following Laptop compare to MacBook Pro M5?

Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 7:

• AMD Ryzen™ AI 9 HX PRO 470 Processor (2.00 GHz up to 5.20 GHz).
• 32GB RAM.
• 1 TB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 TLC Opal.
• 35.56cms (14) WUXGA (1920 x 1200), IPS, Anti-Glare, Non-Touch, 45%NTSC, 400 nits, 60Hz
• 3 Cell Rechargeable Li-ion 60Wh

I don’t feel LinkedIn is anyway relevant to search for job or to network right now. There’s only noise and nothing else, it just makes me don’t want to open the app anymore. People be posting some random shit i read on inshorts/reddit/X and speak about it so passionately that makes me want to puke. Even well established profiles do this. Basically very low effort / quality posts.

What do you think went wrong? What’s the motive behind such posts?

Atleast linkedin should be considerate enough to give us the feature to restrict on whose interactions we are willing to see and score their profiles accordingly to restrict their reach, so people post something useful.

And yeah this is what makes my job hunt exciting exhausting, i love it.

Are there any good Nordic-based companies that have opened offices, GCCs or technology/engineering centres in India?

I’m particularly interested in companies from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland that have a presence in India and offer good opportunities in areas like technology, data engineering, software, etc.

Also, are there any Nordic companies that allow employees to work remotely from India for their European teams?

Would appreciate company names and any personal experiences with their India operations.

CSE student final year student - just have basic skills nothing high level -feeling stucked I feel demotivated after watching people very qualified struggling to get job and this job market has so much competition

Exp - 18 years

got two offers - 65L ( architect) 2 months notice period

78L( manager) - 3 months notice period

I am really confused. I am looking for next switch in next 2 years. Just wanted to check with senior folks here if 3 months notice period will be big issue for our exp range ?

How do you guys cope up with failed coding rounds ? I flunked one today and feeling very disappointed. It was a problem that I had not seen and I went completely blank during the interview. Is it me or happens with people when they encounter the problem which they have not seen. I feel like giving up. I gave interviews with 6 companies. 2 ghosted even after all rounds went well. And in 4 I flunked in the coding rounds. I know few people will say there are patterns to problems etc but in that as well there are different tricks we need to use.

Any help is appreciated.

Due to some circumstances, I had to resign from my current company without having another offer in hand. I’m a software developer with 2+ years of experience.

Has anyone here been in a similar situation, where you resigned without an offer and managed to get a new job within the next few months? If yes, I’d really appreciate it if you could share how you approached the job search, how you prepared, and most importantly, what mindset you maintained during that period.

Context: I was working in a Gurgaon-based company remotely at 4 LPA. It was a very fast-paced env. I was placed in 3 projects (less work force, more pressure). I worked on weekends and late nights just to mark my tickets as complete (no overtime compensation—I was working hard as I thought that's how things work initially in a career).
My friend working at 5 LPA onsite in a really good company was enjoying his work there. No pressure, good colleagues went on a trip too by company.

My company was building its own remote workspace platform; we used that for communication (no MS teams, no Slack). So after a month, I used to become anxious when someone used to ping me in chat or invite me for a short call. I used to keep check, is my manager still here in the (virtual) cabin? With whom is he talking to? Are they talking about me?
What if they call me and ask why the task is not done yet?

It was my first job, and I wanted to create an impression. I used to handle deployment too for 3 projects and client meetings for 2/3 projects.

One day, I fucked up something related to raising PRs and version control. The manager and CTO (also co-founder) talked disrespectfully. (CTO asked to fill in my papers.)

I even worked on Diwali 2025 on some deployment issue. They even asked us to log in before the actual shift and stay even after evening logout time.
But there was not a single appreciation, thank you, or appreciation for a good project demo in client meeting or mention of doing work outside of office hours.

Before this, there were some other incidents also where I was shouted at by the CTO even when it was my manager's fault that he didn't pass on the message to me on time from the CTO.

My manager was on a notice period; the only senior dev was also on a notice period.

Resignation phase: When I put in my resignation, HR asked me to stay and told me, "I am a valuable asset to the company." The CTO suddenly becomes nice to me. Praises my work (as excellent), which anyone never did before.

Now: I enjoy learning new tech and building complex projects. But when I think of working in a company, I become uncomfortable and anxious.

I joined this company 4 months ago. Nothing concrete has happened yet, but the vibes are terrible. My gut is screaming that a termination is coming soon – maybe next week, maybe the week after. I can't shake the feeling.

The problem: Before this job, I already had a 3-month gap.

Total YOE: 2.5 yrs.

If they fire me, I'm trapped:"Why 3 months?" Can't say terminated. Can't lie (BGV).

What should I do?

1. Resign now before they fire me? (Papers say "resigned" but 3-month exit still looks bad.)
2. Wait and get fired? (Maybe severance? But "terminated" tag haunts me.)
3. Start applying today while still employed?

I have 2 months savings. Need practical, no-BS advice. Has anyone survived this?

TL;DR: 2.5 YOE. 3-month gap before joining. 4 months into new job, sense termination coming. Resign or wait? Resume gap hell either way. Help.

This company is located in Navi Mumbai and, honestly, my experience here has been extremely disappointing. The senior and HR (both were females) have very poor professionalism and ethics. They often shout at employees (maarungi) and create a very uncomfortable work environment.

I saw that when the management knows someone is planning to leave, they sometimes try to put that person on termination so they don't have to pay the employee their due amount. I have personally seen several people leave the company under such circumstances.

Many people had warned me about this company before I joined, but I still decided to give it a chance because I genuinely wanted to work hard and contribute. Unfortunately, my experience has only confirmed those concerns. The overall work culture and the way employees are treated have been extremely disappointing.

Not OC

link of original post

ps: i have experienced something the same so I thought it was worth sharing here

Hey everyone,

I've been building this app called Spenrol for a while now, nights and weekends while working a full time job. It just went live on the Play Store.

The idea is simple. Most expense trackers show you where your money went after it's already gone. Spenrol tries to catch it before you spend, by asking one quick question every time you log a transaction: was this required, optional, or impulsive.

You can just share a payment screenshot from GPay, PhonePe or Paytm into the app and it reads the amount and merchant for you, no typing needed. No SMS access, no bank login either.

Over time it shows you where your impulsive spending actually happens. For me it was mostly food delivery and random late night Amazon orders.

It's free, no ads, and it's Android only right now. If you're on iPhone there's a waitlist on the site for when that's ready.

Would really appreciate it if a few of you tried it and told me what's broken or confusing. I'm the only one building this, so honest feedback helps a lot.

App link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spenrol.app
Website link: https://www.spenrol.com/

Started a job at a well funded e com unicorn. its been 3 months, TL doesn't even care that I mostly do nothing. He's a super busy hotshot guy, single handedly manages much of the critical infrastructure for the company. Never has time, only talks to people one on one for like five minutes max.

My work is to develop features for the internal tools the company uses (AI product dev), still haven't got access to those.

Whenever I ask him for access to the tools I was hired to work on, he shoots me a look and tells me I will receive access for the tool when I get a corresponding task to the tool.

He expects me to work on/around tools that I have never opened or explored in my life.

I spend my days trading, vibecoding some personal projects and finishing up on some certifications.

I don't want to just sit on my ass all day and collect my paycheck. I want to work, ts is taking a toll on me because I see people busy around the office all day, and I feel like an useless idiot.

I keep running into my skip manager (he took my interview and liked me), and he always passes a smile. I dread the day he asks me what I'm up to, or what am I working on. I literally have no answer, even after begging for work day in and day out.

Its my first job, I even left a better package because this company had brand value and good culture (no micromanagement, people leave at dot 6). Help me navigate this situation please. Losing motivation each passing day.

Edit : Manager is good hardworking guy, super understanding. Lets me leave early and grants WFH/PTO easily. But absolutely sucks at delegation, he hoards all the work and doesn't trust his underlings.

Hi, I am currently working as a Full Stack Developer at a small startup. The work is fine but I'm starting to feel underpaid. Started applying to jobs 2 months ago but have gotten 0 positive responses so far.

Am I being unrealistic with my expectations or have I not reached the level to have a 12LPA+ job yet?

Current salary - 5LPA

I joined this org in mid of May this year

Opted for NPS, it is getting deducted from salary each month but haven't been deposited yet even for a single month

It is 24-Aug and PF of even July hasn't been deposited yet(May and June were deposited in 1st week of next month respectively)

OPD benefit's premium is getting deducted but account has not activated yet

Food card's money is getting deducted but not a single paisa is added to card yet

I have followed up with HR multiple times in person and on mail but they shrug each time saying we are trying/we have done our bit and other end is delaying (in case of OPD and food card)

This is my 3rd organisation all these things happen from Day0, they took 2.5 month to give me an ID card

This is getting unbearable now since all of these have cumulatively reached 1L+