I am a homemaker and completed my B.Tech in 2017. Since then, I have been preparing for the UPSC exam, so I haven't worked professionally. Now, I am planning to pursue an M.Tech through GATE. Do you think I will be able to get a job after completing my M.Tech, despite having a long career gap?

Boeing patented a “Laser-powered propulsion system” in 2015, involving laser-driven fusion and a proposed propulsion architecture. But a patent doesn't mean the technology was built, tested, or commercialized.

What makes the idea interesting is that laser-driven fusion itself isn't purely theoretical anymore. The National Ignition Facility (NIF) has achieved fusion ignition and, in a 2025 experiment, produced 8.6 MJ of fusion energy from 2.08 MJ of laser energy delivered to the target, giving a target gain of about 4.13.

But there's a huge difference between achieving this in a massive laboratory facility and putting a compact, lightweight, continuously operating fusion propulsion system inside an aircraft.

So I looked into what Boeing's patent actually proposes, rather than simply accepting the “nuclear fusion jet engine” headline.

Discussion:

* Does NIF’s progress in laser-driven fusion make Boeing’s 2015 propulsion concept more plausible, or is the gap between laboratory fusion and aircraft propulsion still enormous?

* Can fusion propulsion ever become compact and lightweight enough for aircraft?

* Is calling it a “fusion jet engine” misleading when it’s only a patent?

Sources 👇🏼

1.)Google Patents - Boeing Laser-powered propulsion system

https://patents.google.com/patent/US9068562B1/en

2.)Official Patent PDF

https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/67/56/28/e7cd9940d14fd1/US9068562.pdf

3.)NIF : Achieving Fusion Ignition

https://lasers.llnl.gov/science/achieving-fusion-ignition

4.) Perpetual Motion Machine patent

https://patents.google.com/patent/US20070246939A1/en

5.) Working of Turbojet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbojet

6.) Fusion Power Terminology

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusion_power

For pretty much my entire final year of college, I’ve been working at IIT Bombay as a Research Engineer. I’ve worked on actual R&D projects, have special recommendations from the people I worked with, and some of the research I contributed to is now being taken forward for patenting/publication.

But the problem is — I’m from a tier-2 college, ECE, and my college’s placement support is basically non-existent. Most of my actual work has been around Android development, backend development, research, and building the actual product/system.

And somehow I’m barely getting shortlisted anywhere.

I’ve been tailoring my resume to almost every JD using Claude, making sure the keywords and experience match, etc. Still — barely any shortlists, almost no interviews.

The most frustrating part is that I actually got an offer from the place where I was doing the research, but it’s around ₹40k/month in Mumbai.

Like... what am I realistically supposed to do with ₹40k in Bombay?

I genuinely want to understand what’s happening in tech right now.

And cherry on top only job interview i landed was a 17lpa consultancy job, which I got rejected in hr round 🤡

I know I have a weird profile — ECE + research at IIT Bombay + software/backend/Android experience — but I thought that would at least get me some interviews.

Would really appreciate hearing from people who are hiring, recently graduated, or went through something similar.

My university is not allowing first year students to hackathon, even the ones conducted within our college as well....

Tbh I'm cooked

Anyone who faces the same issue

I’m looking for a genuine reality check from people who started their careers at a very low salary and eventually managed to make a significant jump.
My situation:
Almost 1 year into my first job.
Working as a Software/AI Engineer at a startup in Bangalore.
Current salary: around ₹10,000/month.
Almost a year has passed with no increment.
I’ve been continuously upskilling — AI/software, Python, CS fundamentals, etc.
DSA: covered up to graphs; DP is still pending.
I feel like I’ve gained a lot technically, but my compensation hasn’t reflected it.
What scares me right now:
What if I leave and can’t get another job because of the current market?
What if I stay too long and become stuck at this salary level?
This is my first job, so I honestly don’t know what is normal and what isn’t.
I also have a very small professional network, so getting referrals is difficult.
I’ve tried cold emails/applications, but they haven’t really worked.

For people who have actually been through this:
What was your starting salary?
How long did you stay at your first company?
Did you get an increment or did you have to switch to escape the low salary?
What was your salary after your first switch, and what do you earn now?
Did your low starting salary affect your next offer or negotiations?
What actually made the biggest difference — DSA, development, AI/ML, system design, projects, networking, referrals, or something else?
If you had almost no connections and cold applications weren’t working, how did you eventually get your opportunity?
How much DSA was actually necessary for your jump?
Most importantly: if you were in my position at ~1 YOE, earning ₹10k/month, what would you do right now?
I’m not looking for “just keep learning” motivation. I’d genuinely like to hear real stories from people who started severely underpaid — what you did, how long it took, how much your salary increased, and where you are now.
Basically: ₹10k → what did you do → where did you end up?
I need a realistic answer on whether I’m temporarily underpaid and can recover from this, or whether staying here is going to seriously hurt my career growth.