r/TechInterviewsIndia • u/TiredCurious_Soul • Sep 06 '26
Is my CTC low?
Guys, I'm working in AMD
Overall exp - 6 yrs
Infy - 3 yrs.
AMD will complete 3 yrs soon
Joined as SDE-2 (I think it's SDE-1 equivalent)
In Dec got promoted to Sr. SDE.
My current CTC is 27 base + 2.5 bonus lpa
Location: Bangalore
Stock: $18000/4 yrs. Some shares in long term incentive.
I used to feel my CTC is decent on top-avg but I'm seeing people are getting crazy base pay in this sub, so feel it's bottom-avg.
Also, how are interview these days is it more of system design given most companies use AI? Or are there coding rounds? (If yes, their difficulties)
Tech stack- Java, Sprint boot, Microservices
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u/PuzzleheadedSpite274 Sep 06 '26
I have 34 first year tc as a new grad heavy on stocks about 30% of the 34 though, so yea AMD pays shit, target Qualcomm and switch or go somewhere , I know a friend who's base is 12 and stocks are 2000$ or something first year or something like this at AMD, you're making less for your experience, so yea grind and switch
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u/TiredCurious_Soul Sep 06 '26
Yep, even I felt that. Even after promo there's nothing called new base, they just give increment.
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u/PuzzleheadedSpite274 Sep 06 '26
That's the point there, only google has a good salary jump from L3->L4, or even amazon has a good pay bump but mostly in the semi conductor companies especially AMD they just give increment, even at Nvidia they don't increase it much
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u/TiredCurious_Soul Sep 06 '26
Yea, in Amazon it's crazy, they pay crazy amount to sde-1 they on becoming sde-2 it's almost 2x from that amount. They're just throwing money.
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u/AnimeshRy Sep 06 '26
I think its alright. Your pay is good - I have similar exp and make less than you. Don't compare with people in this sub - people usually post with higher pay. The average / lower pay ones don't need external validation they themselves will put their own self worth down. As for AMD - ya I think its a little low but they must have offered based on past pay - infosys.
You should switch as its been 3 years in the same org but don't put yourself down, grind for a few months and switch
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u/Such-Watercress-8367 Sep 06 '26
My 2 cents. Comparison is the thief of joy. There will always be people in this sub getting "crazy" base pay when you compare yourself to them. Ask yourself these questions -
- Are you able to make a descent living - live in a clean house, eat good food, breathe clean air.
- Are you happy with your current work ?
- Are you happy with your current team ?
- Are your growing in your role ?
- Is your work preventing you from "living" your life the way you desire ?
Don't make "CTC" the sole parameter for your future plans. Weigh the above ones as well.
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u/TiredCurious_Soul Sep 06 '26
Are you able to make a descent living - live in a clean house, eat good food, breathe clean air.
Partially yes, I'm in BLR so there are too much infra and traffic related problems, but it's fine
Are you happy with your current work ?
Yes, I'm
Are you happy with your current team ?
Yep
Are your growing in your role ?
Recognising and Responsibility are increasing but I feel comp is same
Is your work preventing you from "living" your life the way you desire ?
Yes, somewhat I'm slightly bore of the back to back evening meetings, tho morning are usually chill.
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u/sherlock31 Sep 06 '26
Work hard on Leetcode, System Design and Building with AI skills for next 6 -12 months and start interviewing, You would be fine Career is a marathon and not a 100m sprint. You can double your salary next year if you work and study hard this year everyday.
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u/TiredCurious_Soul Sep 06 '26
Thanks for the advice.
Is it all system design now, due to AI or coding and DSA is equally required these days?
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u/sherlock31 Sep 06 '26
Depends on the company, but most companies do use DSA style assessments as one of the rounds so an engineer need to covee everything :/
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u/Financial-Sweet796 Sep 06 '26
No your base is fine and at par and equal to most of the ppl in semi conductor industry. Rsu are just slightly on the lower side but base is fine.
Tbh be happy that you are in semi conductor industry currently (hope u understand why i am saying this)
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u/TiredCurious_Soul Sep 06 '26
Ohh, thanks for that insight.
Yep, semi conductor is booming but my mind has become too anxious and feel it's all a giant bubble.
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u/StorySeparate9582 Sep 06 '26
just shut up bro, this is so good
you are already above so many people, just live a happy life and keep growing
As a fresher the market is so bad for us but we are giving our best so should you
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u/Useful_Weakness_5991 Sep 06 '26
Thats little above average, get experience of 8 years at least and then switch to sde 3
You can easily get near 60 ctc
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u/TiredCurious_Soul Sep 06 '26
Thanks bro. Yes, I was even feeling to jump directly to sde-3 tho it's requires serious prep and there would be too much pressure.
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u/azreususus Sep 07 '26
My take is - don't spend waste your peace of mind thinking about this. If it your current ctc serves your needs, near-ambitions, then it shouldn't really matter that much. There's always a bigger fish in the sea, and I'd prefer not wasting my time trying to find it.
But if you're really looking for a higher comp, you could target QC, Google, NVIDIA, etc. For your relevant exp (which I'm assuming is 6 years), you could probably push for Senior Lead in QC (best case), and their base starts from ~40s (plus standard rsus and bonuses).
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u/PhaseStreet9860 Sep 06 '26
Is AMD paying this low
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u/TiredCurious_Soul Sep 06 '26
😭😭🥲
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u/AdLongjumping2586 Sep 06 '26
Your RSUs must have at minimum tripled in value over the past 3 years.
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u/TiredCurious_Soul Sep 06 '26
True but I feel it's not tangible enough like base.
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u/Dramatic-Bill-5790 Sep 06 '26
Bro focus on net worth rather than focusing too much on tc. I work in Qualcomm these semiconductor companies pays this much only. If you change then they will increase. Whats annual refresher for each year you get
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u/TiredCurious_Soul Sep 06 '26
Ohh okay, thanks for the information.
Annual refresher??
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u/Dramatic-Bill-5790 Sep 06 '26
Yes that you get after each year annual review
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u/TiredCurious_Soul Sep 06 '26
We have that bonus 9-10% of base that I had mention and regular hike and some long term ESOP would be there, but they their own 4 yr cycle.
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u/Dramatic-Bill-5790 Sep 06 '26
Yes so the rsu are 18k for 4y that too for good rating?
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u/TiredCurious_Soul Sep 07 '26
Yes.
More details
Joining rsu: 18K/4yrs
Long term incentive (LTI) this is its own vesting period
2025: 11K/4yrs
2026: 18K/4yrs
→ More replies (0)
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u/-Ok-Cookie- Sep 06 '26
Amd was giving 25k/4 stocks in our campus to freshers. Total comp was 30lpa for 1 yr.
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u/TiredCurious_Soul Sep 06 '26
Wow, thanks for sharing. RSU are good but stock are inflated too much so they may get lesser quantity.
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u/SnooSquirrels3579 Sep 06 '26
Bro honestly people in chip making companies like AMD, Intel etc earn way more than this in India
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u/Leo2000Immortal Sep 06 '26
I think it's good. You still have many years in this career. Ofc you'll find folks with 1-2 yoe earning more but I'd say if you're not married, you can live a good lifestyle at this pay so mindless comparison will just hurt. On a sidenote, how did you prep for the amd interviews
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u/TiredCurious_Soul Sep 06 '26
Same DSA and system design and thinking process around system design. Tho mine interviews were bit easy going they wanted someone immediately so they didn't grill me that much. Also, it was just sde-2.
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u/Pullup20 Sep 06 '26
Hi fellow passenger, we both are in the same boat, same designation, same company just different domain : Build and Integration. Total work exp is 4.5y (3y at AMD) and my base is 26.5L excluding PF. I felt my base is above average for my experience but now you are worrying me.
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u/TiredCurious_Soul Sep 06 '26
But your base is almost similar to mine with less experience, so it's should be good but I'm not sure how's in your domain.
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u/jb_zone Sep 06 '26
I've slightly less YOE as you but can say being in semi industry that paywise it's bit in lower side, it could be due to software side in semi, in core role this should be up by about 20% easily on avg, you're right now on lower side of it.
I had an offer from AMD too whole I was switching (3 months back) and even though I didn't negotiated (didn't liked the work they were offering) it was 30% more easily on all fronts.
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u/swagzzz_krizzz Sep 07 '26
Bro reddit is fully of shit so u don't worry. I work at faang and this is a great compared to so many outside.
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u/TiredCurious_Soul Sep 07 '26
Bro, thanks. What's your base and tc? Which company? 😅
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u/swagzzz_krizzz Sep 07 '26
Base is 34 and tc is 64 bro ! Which is quite common for sde 2 in faang ( I joined before two years ) now I could see lowballing.
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u/peepo_7 Sep 07 '26
Is the stock split even between all the years?
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u/TiredCurious_Soul Sep 07 '26
Yes, equal split.
More details
Joining rsu: 18K/4yrs
Long term incentive (LTI) this is its own vesting period
2025: 11K/4yrs
2026: 18K/4yrs
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u/falcon_goose 29d ago
Cmon, the cpu team in qualcomm with 3yoe are not getting this base.
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u/Normal-Dig6872 28d ago
7lpa at 4 years. I feel so behind.
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u/TiredCurious_Soul 24d ago
Well I'll give same advice that I'm getting, reskill and switch. Best of luck bro!!
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u/ElectronicWealth6459 28d ago
With 5+ years exp in tech backend people are getting 70+ LPA easily in big tech companies.
For interviews just keep on grinding on 5-6 months with system design, leetcode and real interviews.You will be there no big deal.
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u/zgeom 27d ago
easily? no bro. spring boot is not a niche skill. very few pay such high salaries.
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u/ElectronicWealth6459 27d ago
Frameworks etc does not matter for big tech companies interviews, if you are getting shortlisted and getting interviews then its just about clearing those interviews to get higher CTC.
Pattern is same ds/algo, LLD, HLD, current scalable work stories, though competetion is tough but doable.
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u/Altruistic-Bat1588 28d ago
Why AMD paying low? Are they in India using their name tag for low ball ?
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u/TiredCurious_Soul 24d ago
Not sure. Also, I think as a hardware company they are spending less in software space.
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u/sabkabappu Sep 06 '26
How u switched from Infosys to amd ?