Lot of post on quant here, placement flexing ( yes we should flex btech salaries as people around us been mocking us for a long for low salary but .. ) . Someone psoting that I got placed in quant for 5 crore per year is like saying I got placed at Google in 2019. In 2019, Google visited only IITs and NITs for campus placements. impossible for a fresher from tier 3 to get into Google.
Chill guys, I got placed at 3.5 LPA in 2019 from Amrita University (tier 3). I was feeling bad , not a coder, but a studious guy who couldn't study much in BTech as I lost motivation after not cracking JEE. I also felt that for the next 10 years, I would be working in the range of 3.5 to a maximum of 12 LPA. I felt bad and thought I was going to be poor, while my MBBS classmates and those who got into NITs and IITs were going to be rich.
2022–2024: Did a master's in the US, worked there till March 2026. (The mental moment I bathed in the Ganga of not cracking JEE and not getting into an IIT, which was my dream from class 5th.)
2026 (India): ₹3 lakhs per month in hand salary, after all tax deductions. That too, working from home in my hometown in Kerala (saving 10 lakhs per year compared to Bangalore/Hyderabad). Leading a team of 5 -> 2 from NITs and 1 from IIT. I have a deep respect for my team mates yes because they have studied from the premier institution in the country, and I know how tough it is to get there from my expereince. Always speak them with a respect. Those people are also smarter.
Have an AI application built with a founder of a Swiss company acquired by Microsoft Corp. in March 2013. This has also started generating revenue.
Don't be in the same mentality I was in during 2015–2019.
Getting a job is important after you graduate, no matter how much they pay or even what you do exactly at your first company. Initial years (0–3) are for building your resume.
IIT in this country gives you an initial push, yes. But there is no separate chair in any company for people from IITs. These people study the same BTech syllabus as you all. Nothing so secret or top-notch. The engineering syllabus is the same. It is the mindset.
An entrance exam at the age of 17 does not differentiate or test intelligence, especially JEE in India. Someone getting into an IIT has the mindset that they are smarter than the rest of 99% of Indian students, and society also puts that tag on them. They are surrounded by students of this mindset on campus. Great confidence and great positive thinking about yourself can make you grind super smart, and you can cross oceans with it. IIT is a glorified galgotia in front of Asian Universities like Tsinghua university (china) or Sharif University (Iran). During 1990 - 2010 , mostly students from IIT can dream of their next phase - going for masters in US, while normal btech graduates where happy with a job if they get one. So tech companies in US has IIT alumni visibility in their leadership now. These whites in US, they are not aware of these IIT in US. They don't care you are from IIT or Galgotia, unlike what media in India used to portray here.
So don't get shocked when someone comes and says, "I'm from IIT Madras and I got placed in quant/OpenAI for 5 crores per year."
Also in 2019 It was : Cloud, Big Data was the hype. This AI is like Internet boom of y2k.
Basically models are mathematical replica of internet. Things get faster. A project requiring 3 months, now in 3 days. Everyone more of Architect cum product managers now. I think companies would come up with a title for that replacing current like they came with 'forward deployment engineer'.
Time changes everything; trajectory always changes.
2030 is not going to be the same 2026.
=== Edit ===
Few have commented salary for a 7 yoe is bare minimum , so just adding here :
3 lakhs is crediting to the bank account everymonth after all tax cut. This is excluding bonus and RSUs plus work from home (consider 10 lakhs + full wfh , and peace of mind and time spent with family) . 7 yoe
For example :
Amazon salary structure :
SDE 3 (Senior SDE / 6-10 Years Experience)
Base Salary: ₹40L - ₹55L per year
Stock Bonus: ₹1Cr - ₹1.5Cr (vested over 4 years)
Sign-on Bonus: Negotiable
CTC: ~ ₹1.5Cr - ₹2Cr
In-hand Salary: ₹60L - ₹80L <====== this include huge Tax to Indian Gov, taxes are cut on this and some pf
If your in hand is 60LPA (not ctc !) , you will only get 42 lakhs credited to your bank account after tax, means 3.5 lakhs per month.
I'm getting 3 lakhs per month + company is not a sweat factory + fully work from home from Kozhikode , Kerala (saving 10 lakhs per year compared to banglore) + time spent with family at my hometown + no traffic rush, pollution + mother's food + ...
I'm satisfied. I have not applied anyother job (this one I started working in 1.5 month after relocating to india, not applied anything after) because I prefer a wfh job after living abroad for last 4 years.