Arun Kumar

Blind vibe coding feels smooth and effortless Until reality hits. -> you ship fast, but don’t understand what you built -> things work in demos, break in real scenarios -> interviews expose the gaps Speed looks good. Skill is different.

#TechSalarySeries 💸 Definitely a serious contender in India’s tech pay landscape. PhonePe 👇 Software Engineer (Entry) → ~₹25L Software Engineer (Mid) → ~₹40L Senior Software Engineer → ~₹65L+ Strong base + bonus + ESOPs.

#TechSalarySeries Databricks - one of the highest-paying in India. Software Engineer (Entry / L3) → ~₹60L Software Engineer (Mid Level / L4) → ~₹1Cr Senior Software Engineer (L5) → ~₹1.6Cr+ Base + bonus + heavy RSUs.

Most interns waste their summer doing nothing. You don’t have to be one of them. → Own a module → Ship features people use → Handle bugs nobody else can → Learn tradeoffs and scaling Do it right, and your career jumps years ahead.

Bar Raiser is where most good candidates get rejected. Used in companies like Amazon, Oracle. -> Interviewer is not from your team -> no benefit of doubt -> “good enough” = reject You can clear DSA. Still get rejected here.

Bangalore feels exciting. Until you do the math. 30k salary 15k rent Add food, travel, basics. You’re left with almost nothing. This is why freshers feel broke here. Not bad spending. Just expensive living.

A unicorn startup manager told my friend 1 year ago: “You’ll be jobless in 6 months because of AI.” Last week? He assigned her a new project. Reality: -> nobody knows -> good engineers still get work -> fear spreads faster than facts Skill up. Ignore noise.

My AI coding statistics over the years at work: 2020 -> 0% 2021 -> 0% 2022 -> 0% - still in Stackoverflow 2023 -> 20% 2024 -> 40% 2025 -> 75% 2026 -> 85% The shift wasn’t obvious while it was happening. Curious, what’s your percentage over the years? 👇

#TechSalarySeries American Express. A stable high-paying tech employer in Bangalore. Software Engineer I → ~₹18L Software Engineer II → ~₹25L Senior Software Engineer → ~₹40L Base + performance bonus.

AI didn’t create bad engineers. It exposed bad estimation. Some devs now plan work assuming AI will figure it out. Then the sprint ends and reality shows up. → messy edge cases → broken flows → delayed delivery AI can generate code. It cannot generate judgment.

0% hike for some of my friends this year. But rent in Bangalore is still increasing 10% this year. No appraisal cycle. No manager feedback. Just a hike clause in the agreement. The market moves every year. Your salary should too.

Clearing DSA rounds feels like the finish line. It is not. The Hiring Manager round is where many offers quietly die. Just simple questions that expose everything: -> how you handle mistakes Great coders struggle here. Because real work is not solved with LeetCode.

#TechSalarySeries Google. The giant everyone wants on their resume. Software Engineer (Entry / L3) -> ~₹30L Software Engineer (Mid Level / L4) -> ~₹70L Senior Software Engineer (L5) -> ~₹1.1Cr Base + performance bonus + RSUs. Google compensation grows heavily with equity.

Tried my first HackerRank problem in college Picked a Hard. 3 hours later still staring at the screen. My conclusion at 18: “Maybe coding interviews are not for me.” Avoided DSA for 2 years.

Most engineers think interviews are just DSA Then comes LLD Design a parking lot Now the interviewer watches how you think: -> identify objects -> assign responsibilities -> design interactions -> keep it extensible Many candidates know algorithms Few know how to design code

#TechSalarySeries Stripe. Bangalore. Software Engineer (Entry) -> ~₹55L Software Engineer (Mid Level) -> ~₹90L Senior Software Engineer -> ~₹1.5Cr Base + performance bonus + equity. Stripe compensation typically has a strong equity component compared to many companies.

Hot take: grinding 200 array problems won’t magically get you into a product company. The real filter starts when interviews move to: • Linked Lists • Trees • Graphs If you can’t traverse a tree or a graph… that’s where most candidates get filtered.

Most engineers think starting in a service company is a disadvantage. I started at TCS Digital. Turned out it taught me things podcasts never will: -> dealing with international clients -> shipping under brutal timelines -> surviving legacy code But very real engineering.

#TechSalarySeries Amazon. Bangalore. SDE I (L4) -> ~₹30L SDE II (L5) -> ~₹65L Senior SDE (L6) -> ~₹1.1Cr Base + joining bonus + RSUs. Amazon uses high joining bonuses in first 2 years while stock vests later.

SDE2 is when “it works on my machine” stops being impressive. 😂 Now it’s: -> Will it scale? -> Can we debug it at 2AM? Less typing. More thinking. More pressure. More growth. Scary. Also where real engineers are made.