An Indian software engineer has caught attention online after revealing how he increased his annual salary from ₹3.5 lakh to ₹35 lakh in just three years after completing BTech. In a detailed Reddit post, the engineer claimed he achieved the jump without mentors, expensive courses or professional guidance, relying instead on coding practice, interview preparation and frequent job switches.
The post, titled “How I reached from 3.5 lpa to 35 lpa in 3 years, no guidance, no mentors”, quickly resonated with many young professionals trying to break out of low-paying entry-level tech jobs.
Different strategy for every job switch
The Reddit user explained that every career move required a different preparation plan. He said he began his career at a service-based company with a ₹3.5 LPA package before moving across three companies in around three years and eventually landing at a major product-based firm with a ₹35 LPA package.
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He also shared that he maintained a 1,750-day LeetCode streak during the journey.
According to the engineer, the first switch, from a service company to a mid-sized product company, depended heavily on solving medium-level coding questions and communicating solutions clearly during interviews.
To prepare for that phase, he solved one easy coding problem daily for six months, completed the NeetCode 150 list and attended mock interviews every week. He added that he deliberately stayed away from paid courses and system design preparation at that stage because those topics were not important for the roles he was targeting.
From ₹12 lakh package to ₹22 lakh package
The Redditor said the second switch demanded a different skill set. Moving from ₹12 LPA to ₹22 LPA required faster coding speed and stronger backend knowledge.
He started participating in weekly LeetCode contests and admitted the initial phase was difficult.
“First 15 contests I bombed. Around contest 20 the speed clicked. No shortcut, just reps under a timer,” he wrote.
The engineer also said he prepared for behavioural interview rounds using the STAR method and spent time learning system design basics through books and online videos.
System design became the real challenge
For the third and biggest jump, from ₹22 LPA to ₹35 LPA, the engineer said interviews became less about direct coding and more about system design and open-ended problem solving.
He explained that he practised mock system design interviews with peers and revised difficult coding questions he had solved earlier to sharpen speed and pattern recognition.
The Reddit user also listed three habits that, according to him, played a major role throughout the journey, maintaining a daily LeetCode streak, focusing on coding patterns instead of just the number of problems solved, and changing jobs every 12 to 18 months.
“Waiting for an internal hike is how you stay at 8 LPA for six years. The market clears comp better than your manager does,” he wrote.
Reddit post sparks discussion
The post has now sparked discussions among software engineers and fresh graduates about salary growth in India’s tech sector, especially at a time when many young employees are questioning whether loyalty to one company still pays off.
While some users praised the engineer’s discipline and consistency, others pointed out that rapid job-switching has increasingly become one of the fastest ways to secure higher salaries in the technology industry.
