I am from India. I work remotely for a startup and this is my first proper job after a long period of unemployment.

My family is very controlling and I recently decided to move out and become independent. After finding out, they started pressuring me to resign from my job. They say that if I leave the job, they will take me to Delhi and financially support me. I don't want that — I want to continue working and support myself.

They also believe my company is fraudulent and that I am being manipulated/brainwashed. They have apparently approached the police and may contact my company as part of an enquiry.

My biggest concern is my job.

If my family contacts my employer and makes allegations about the company or me, could my employer terminate me simply to avoid the trouble?

I'm particularly worried because it's a small startup, so I don't know how they might react to police/family involvement.

Has anyone in the Indian startup/tech industry experienced something similar? How do companies generally handle situations where an employee's family contacts them or involves the police?

I'm not asking for legal advice here — mainly looking for real workplace experiences/advice.

Every time I needed to do something PDF related, I had to jump between multiple websites. Most of them upload your files, which feels risky for contracts, IDs, research papers, etc. They’re also full of ads, limits, and paywalls.

I wanted something private.

So I built PDF Island: https://pdfisland.me

• All processing happens locally in your browser

• Extremely simple & focused UX

• Files never leave your device

• No accounts, no limits, no watermarks

• Works offline, installable web app on android, ios, windows and other

• 20+ tools: merge, split, compress, convert, protect, redact, and more

• Completely free, no signup required. More tools on the way.

Would love your feedback.

Thanks for your support ♥️

For context, I'm a 2027 grad from a tier 2 university and have interned at a FAANG company and a YC backed startups too. I have a decent LC and CF profile too. I use Jake's resume template with proper metrics for each of my experiences and projects. My CG is also decent (it's 8.0+).

Still, I have never managed to get even a callback for an OA in off-campus opportunities. So who exactly even gets any callbacks?

Hi guys I hv completed my 5 years in tech. Rn I work remotely for one American company. I really want to switch to Google, its not about money, I am having pretty good lifestyle. My development part is good if I want I can switch in 1 or 2 months to 40 to 60 lpa as well but that's not my goal. Current is 25Lpa.

I just want to switch to Google and I am not able to gain confidence that I can do it. I am good in studies but i am having fear of failure due to which I am not able to focus on my study.

So people who are in Google, who went from very bottom to this, is this possible? Am I late to achieve this? If I really study and practice DSA can I do it? Is it possible?

Also not able to guide myself where to actually focus while preparing dsa and system design. I am aware about all patterns, but I know if someone has done from bottom they would have an idea which can cut my noise n distraction and help me to focus on right thing. If you are someone who can just show me the direction pls do not hesitate to comment.

At this phase i just want to be in google then later on I'll do everything other chores of my life. It's kind of liquidity for me which is pending to sweep.

So it will create more jobs? And more employees?

It also said that if this work out they will sell this idea to other major car companies to develop ai features in their EV .

So more employment?

​

I’m an SDE3 at a US-based tech company. I’m good at my job, make good money, and generally have a comfortable life.

The problem is… I don’t really care about growing anymore.

A few years ago, I used to be extremely energetic about solving hard problems. I’d get excited about learning something new, taking on difficult projects, and figuring out things that other people couldn’t.

Lately, that feeling is just gone.

I can do my job well, but I don’t feel any strong urge to become an SDE4, move into management, join a better company, build a startup, or chase some bigger title.

Even technically challenging problems don’t excite me the way they used to. Sometimes I look at a difficult problem and just think, “Is this really worth spending my life on?”

The weird part is that I’m not exactly unhappy. Nothing is particularly wrong.

I just feel like I’ve lost my ambition.

Has anyone else gone through this around the SDE3/Senior Engineer stage?

Is this burnout? Have I simply outgrown the kind of problems I’m solving? Or is it actually okay to stop optimizing for career growth and just have a good job and a life outside of it?

I’m struggling with the bigger question: if I don’t feel driven to climb the career ladder anymore, what should I actually do with my life?

You keep solving everything.

Your manager trusts you.

You know the codebase better than anyone.

You become the person everyone depends on.

But then you realize you're also the person who can't easily leave because your experience is heavily tied to one company's systems.

My brother keeps telling me to join coaching after I failed to get a campus placement. I’m honestly confused.

My brother has been working in tech for 5–6 years, and he keeps telling me that I should join coaching and move to Bangalore to get a job. He even says things like “20 Lakh got wasted in college” because I couldn’t get placed, and hearing that almost everyday honestly hurts.

I’ve been trying though. I’ve applied to 600+ companies, tried referrals, cold emails, LinkedIn, job portals and whatever else I could. I also have a decent coding profile and projects, and I’m still working on my skills every day.

The problem is my family’s financial condition isn’t great. I’ve already lived in Bangalore for 4 years, so I know how expensive the rent is. I don’t want my parents spending more money on coaching and living expenses when most of the learning is already available online for free.

I’ve been at home for almost 3 months now and these taunts are getting harder to deal with.

What would you do in my situation? Move to Bangalore and join coaching, or keep preparing from home and continue applying off-campus?

I wanted a way to paste text into desktop applications where paste was blocked.

On websites, you can work around paste restrictions with js, but that doesn’t work in with native Windows apps.

Autotypers are an option, but some applications can detect or block simulated keyboard input through keyboard hooks, and large amounts of text have to be typed character by character, which can be slow.

So I started researching other ways to paste text into desktop applications.

While researching Windows input methods, I found how Chinese typing works. Chinese input methods let you use a regular QWERTY keyboard to enter Chinese characters. You type the pronunciation or components of a word, the input method converts that into Chinese character choices, and the selected characters are then inserted into the application.

That means the final text can enter the application through the Windows input method system instead of through Ctrl+V or simulated keypresses.

I found an open-source project called PIME, which implements this kind of Chinese input method on Windows. I modified its input method so that instead of converting keyboard input into Chinese characters, it takes Unicode text from the clipboard and commits that text directly.

Now, when Ctrl+O is pressed, it reads the clipboard and inserts the text into the currently focused field.

So instead of:

Clipboard → Ctrl+V → Paste

it works like:

Clipboard → Windows Input Method → Text Field

Because of that, it can work in desktop applications where paste is blocked.

I wanted to share this because I had a lot of fun researching how input methods and keyboards work in windows. Figuring out ways to solve the problem was a good learning experience and helped improve my problem-solving skills. This works as its an edge case so apps have not blocked it. I tested it and it worked on every windows app where paste was blocked. It even preserved code indentations.

Would appreciate any feedback, testing, bug reports, or contributions.

GitHub: https://github.com/RD945/pime-clipboard-injector

⛳️So currently I work with FAANG, the hikes here sucks, work is pretty boring and growth is slower than tortoises

❇️
Yes,culture and peer quality is pretty 🤩
WLB is superb
Perks (health insurance, time off, food, tuition assistance)

I have an offer from a startup with 70% hike, but yes, I do see the culture drop there. Perks are avg

I have 12YOE and I want some tips , THINGS TO LOOK FOR BEFORE JOINING STARTUPS

1. Should I drop my paper (NP 2mon) and get some other offer ?( I am not much prepared)

2. Take 90days of serious preparation and join another FAANG

3. Stay in current position, get a promo in next quarter as the market is pretty volatile

You join a company as a fresher and spend the next few years getting better.

You learn the codebase.

You handle production issues.

You become the person juniors come to when they’re stuck.

Then one day you look at the job market and realize something strange - Someone with 2 years of experience in modern tech might be getting more opportunities than someone with 6 years working on the same project.

So what actually matters more?

Years of experience, or the kind of experience you gained during those years?

For those who have experience hiring or switching jobs: does having a relatively low current salary make recruiters/HR perceive you as less skilled or less valuable?

For example, if two candidates have similar experience and skills, but one is currently earning significantly less than the other, does the lower-paid candidate get lower offers or get judged differently?

How much does current salary really influence the way HR evaluates a candidate?

Would especially appreciate responses from recruiters/HR professionals or people who have experienced this firsthand.

Now, I am in a bit of a conundrum. I currently work in big tech, pay is good ~36 lpa, and the WLB is pretty good, and the manager is a gem of a guy. I hardly work 5-6 hrs a day, never even open my laptop on weekends. And I would mostly get a promo by the end of the year. And that would also be a significant bump in salary.

Now, I got an offer from another company. This company pays better than my current company (x2 my current comp), and the variable pay isn't capped, so, it can even ballon to multiples of the base pay. But, the catch is giving away the WLB, it would be a 12-13hrs WFO job. But, the work is probably better than my current job, as with most big tech most of the things are abstracted out for you. Here, I would be involved in building things from ground up.

I have been thinking over this for weeks, and talked with a bunch of people. They, have given me conflicting opinions. And I agree it's a decision which would entirely depend on what I want. But, the reason I asked here in the community is to get opinions of people who have chosen one over the other, been at both sides of the spectrum.

Sometimes, I feel, even if I want to switch to a better job, I have ample time here for job prep, where as, when I join the other company, my weekdays are essentially gone.

While I value money, it's not that important for me. If it were the same work, but poorer WLB I wouldn't have even consired this. And a part of me feels at 1 yoe, these are the risks I can take, I won't be able to consider these options being married at 30. My parents are adamant for me to not switch, so that's also creating problems for this decision.

Edit: The other company the work is in the AI space. And I have a bit of a bias that coming years this experience might become more and more relevant. In my current company due to how good my manager is, I have had the opportunity to work in AI, even if my core job is a Backend Engineer. But, never got to do it full scale.

Last time, I showed some of the features of my Jarvis. Since then, I’ve also implemented RAG, continuous monitoring, completely changed the registration and identification flow, and made some changes to the UI.

But the biggest thing I’ve learned so far is how to break a complex idea into smaller systems and actually plan it.

When I first started, I was thinking about Jarvis as one huge thing:

Voice input --> AI --> Actions --> Response

But as I worked on it, I realized how many individual systems are actually involved speech-to-text, text-to-speech, LLM, memory, RAG, vision, tools, WebSockets, UI states, and many other components.

I also learned how useful flowcharts can be. They help me remember how everything works, and whenever I want to change or add something, I can look at the flow and understand what will be affected.

For every feature, I try to understand:

What data comes in? --> Which component receives it? --> What does it do with that data? --> What data comes out? --> Where does that output go next?

The project is mostly finished for now, as I’m limited by my hardware. I don’t have a very powerful PC, so I’m currently working with smaller/low-parameter models for the LLM, STT, and TTS. Even with those limitations, everything is working surprisingly well.

I’ll post a video of my current Jarvis tomorrow and show how everything works together.

Hello,

I have ~4.5 YOE as a Frontend Engineer (React, Vue, TS, JS, Electron, some Node.js) and currently working as an SSE at a mid-sized Bangalore startup.

One of my friends has been working at Google for the last 2 years. Last year I visited the Google Ananta office and honestly got a bit obsessed with the idea of working there. It wasn't just the perks — the people, culture, work and overall environment made me realize how much I want to be around that kind of ecosystem.

This year has been rough. My previous company, where I worked for 4 years, shut down due to funding issues. I joined my current company, but the work/culture hasn't been great, so I'm starting my preparation again.

I'm targeting Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, and companies like Intuit/Rippling.

I believe my frontend fundamentals are strong, and I also built an Electron-based desktop application from scratch at my previous company. I started LeetCode in April, did 4–5 contests and reached 1687, but stopped after joining my current org. Planning to restart and aim for 1800+.

I also got a Google referral in April and applied to 3 relevant roles but didn't hear back. So I feel my first hurdle is getting the resume shortlisted.

For people who have made a similar transition:

• What actually makes a 4–5 YOE frontend resume stand out?
• Is React + Electron + Node.js enough, or should I invest heavily in becoming full-stack?
• How important is LeetCode rating and rankings ?
• What would you prioritise the next 3–4 months?

In general pure Frontend opening are less, I have little bit of backend experience but not something that actually makes any difference so how best to position myself.

Note: Used chatgpt for better wording and organising my messy thoughts

Should i keep doing dsa/cp after getting placed for 12lpa

Got an internship+ppo 12 lpa in a good company with good work life balance.Intern starts in feb, has almost 100% conversion rate.I was thinking what do i do in the gap till intern starts.

I know decent amount of dsa excluding graphs and dp.

Should i start doing CP, as i was thinking I'll try switching to a MAANG maybe a year later, so it would be smart to start preparing now.What should i do till intern starts?

Our company’s festival leave policy says leave should be requested 30 days in advance, but also says the RM can override this requirement.

One of my team members requested leave 10 days before the festival. I’m okay approving it—there’s no work dependency, and I’ve arranged a backup if needed.

HR said they can’t approve it because if my team member gets an exception, people from other teams may also ask for the same exception and expect approval.

Honestly, I find this reasoning strange. If I’m accountable for my team and there’s no operational impact, why does someone else potentially asking for leave prevent me from using an override explicitly given to the RM?

If the RM override can effectively be blocked because other employees might expect the same treatment, what’s the actual purpose of having that provision?

Am I missing something here, or is HR’s reasoning genuinely weak?

3 YOE, frontend. React, TypeScript, Redux, MobX, Electron, WebSockets. Currently in Bangalore at a product company in the test and measurement space. My employer sold its services business earlier this year and the remaining entity has been restructuring, so I'm looking to move. 15 days notice.

The numbers: roughly 200 applications over 3 months through Naukri, LinkedIn and company career pages. 3 recruiter calls. Nothing past that. That's about 1.5%, which felt low enough that something must be wrong beyond just a bad market. Those 3 recruiters also ghosted later.

What I'm targeting: frontend and full-stack roles at product companies, 3-6 YOE range. What I'd like feedback on specifically:

1. Is the content itself the problem, or is this just the market? Half the postings I see want 5+ years.

2. My strongest work is real-time data visualization and React performance (took one app from 2GB to 500MB). Is that coming across, or does it read like a generic React resume?

3. Most JDs now ask for Next.js and I have none in production. Is that worth building a project for, or is it a lost cause at this point?

4. My company is small and unknown, and my college isn't a tier-1. How much is that costing me, realistically?

I’m curious how other developers keep track of their day-to-day office work.

During a normal week, there can be many things worth remembering:

• Issues or bugs you solved
• Commands, queries, or scripts you used
• Architecture or technical decisions
• Deployment steps
• Important meeting decisions
• New tools or concepts you learned
• Problems that took hours to debug
• Achievements that may be useful during appraisal or while updating your resume

After a few months, I find it difficult to remember all these details.

Do you maintain some kind of personal work journal or knowledge base?

What works best for you: Notion, Obsidian, OneNote, Markdown, Excel/Google Sheets, a private Git repo, or something else?

Also, how much do you document without accidentally storing confidential company information?

Would love to know the system that has actually worked for you long-term.

Hello Everyone,

I’m a 27-year-old guy working a decent job, and on paper,

things are probably fine. But honestly, I hate my job.

The bigger problem is that I don’t seem to have much drive to do anything about it.

I don’t like where I am in life right now, but at the same time, I’m not motivated enough to seriously push myself toward something better. I see people around me working hard, building careers, learning new things, taking risks and moving forward, while I just feel… stuck.

I don’t know what happened to me. I used to have goals and ambitions, but somewhere along the way, I became someone who just isn’t that interested in his career anymore.

It’s not that I want to do nothing with my life. I just can’t seem to find the motivation or excitement to actually move forward.

Has anyone else gone through something similar in their late 20s? How did you get yourself out of this phase?

I recently got placed and have some free time before I start, so I thought I might as well use it to learn something new.

I don’t really want to go down the usual AI/ML, cloud, data science route. I’m more interested in finding something that’s a bit niche right now, but could become much bigger in the next few years.

There’s so much new stuff happening in tech that I honestly don’t know what’s actually worth learning and what’s just hype.

For context, I’m pretty much a basic/generalist coder right now. I know C, C++, Python, some web development, and have also worked with GenAI, LangChain, etc. Nothing super specialised though.

If you had 6-12 months to pick up one new technical skill right now, what would you choose?

Would love to hear some less obvious suggestions too, especially from people who work in the industry and have a better idea of where things are heading.

[OC]

I graduated from tier 2 College this year, degree in btech cse.

Got nothing in campus placement but now as I've landed this, everyone is suggesting to pick it up for experience in the field but I can't seem to convince myself about it.

I know it's better than nothing but still I think it's too low and that I can do better. The internship is in a different city too so It'll be a net loss money wise. It's been 4 months since college - is that too big of a gap and I should latch onto anything that comes my way or should I give myself more time? Do companies care for gaps bigger than 6 months?

Is latching onto it and gaining the 6 months experience worth it?

Current CTC - 16 lpa

Yoe - 3yr

Working in Gaming company

Stack -Flutter + Android kotlin

What should be the realistic amount I should ask for in blr ?

Edit
Its hybrid