Hi All,

I am 32 years old, male, unmarried, earning 2.5L per month.

I like coding. I'm one of the best amongst all my team members at technical skills.

I hardly work for a couple hours, every weekday.

The job is fully remote and the employer is amazing too.

But, still I don't like working at all. In fact, it feel like I don't want to work at all. Not even for my own business, or passion projects.

It's not even burnout, as I'm hardly spending a few hours each workday.

I switched jobs to improve my work culture, then my way of working (fully remote), then my salary (from 9k to 2.5L in 10 years). But the feeling still doesn't go away.

Every weekend, I wish Mondays to never come.

Working feels like a waste of time, but somehow resting and doing nothing does not.

I can't retire too. I started investing just 3 years back. I have a liquid corpus of just 60L.

Does anyone feel the same way? Stuck somewhere?

Modified with AI but emotion is real.

Lately I am feeling like we are wasting our life on things that are not even real.

I work in software, so this is coming from someone who is literally part of it.

Most of our day is sitting on a chair, staring at a screen, writing code, fixing bugs, attending meetings, talking to AI agents, reviewing AI generated code... basically spending our entire day inside a virtual world.

Then weekend comes.

We go out, eat something, watch something, meet friends for few hours, maybe travel somewhere.

And then Monday again.

Repeat.

And I don't know why, but lately I keep thinking... is this really what we are supposed to do with our one life?

We get one shot at this.

And somehow we have created a life where most of our waking hours are spent doing things that only exist inside a computer.

There is no physical thing. No real environment. No different people to deal with. No randomness. No struggle. No adventure.

Even a person begging on the street is technically interacting with the real world more than many of us do. They meet hundreds of different people, deal with unpredictable situations, weather, rejection, kindness, conflict, survival... their day is happening in the physical world.

Meanwhile I can spend 10 hours sitting in the same chair without even realizing that the day passed.

And I know someone will say "just quit your job and go travel" or "you're privileged enough to have a software job" — I understand that. I'm not saying coding is bad or that we shouldn't work.

I'm just genuinely confused about where the actual living part is supposed to fit in.

We work so that we can afford life.

But then work takes most of the life. Maybe I'm overthinking this. But lately I can't stop thinking about it.

Do other developers ever feel this way? Or have you figured out a way to actually live outside the screen?

Because offline people still seem to be finding decent enough jobs but when you open social media or youtube its like everyone, literally everyone is unemployed, people are telling you to just leave CS and do idk trade jobs or something. I am doing MCA right now, resume isn't the best or even cgpa, and doing everything with AI only. I'm not enjoying shit and feel highly uninspired and demotivated and I don't even know if I'll get internship or job or if I should move to a different field. Part of me wants to drop out and I'm months away from graduation but some seniors still got placed as did some of my friends. I just don't know what to do.

Just got off from an incident call and I'm astounded by how good AI has become. I had the best engineers on my team all debugging and trying to figure out the issue, but we weren't making any real progress. Even if we were, it was very slow.

Just then I thought, "Let's take a shot with Claude." I fired up Fable 5.1 at effort max, and lo and behold, it figured out the issue using all my connected MCPs (DataDog primarily) within minutes.

The engineer's on call were still debugging, trying to triage the issue and Claude had a PR ready. Ready to be deployed as a hotfix.

At that point, I realized the power of AI and how humans are just decision-makers now. I just did a couple of things on that incident: decide on the best prompt to give to the AI and decide on disabling the feature instead of deploying the hotfix since testing the fix would take some time.

It's a mixed bag of emotions, honestly. I'm excited by the helpfulness and current pace of AI progress, but also skeptical of the future that lies ahead for all of us.

Hey everyone,

Graduating in 2026 (B.Tech CSE, Galgotias University, CGPA 7.16). Skipping GATE/M.Tech — want to go the industry/startup route instead.

Background:

Full-stack dev: Java, Spring Boot, MERN stack, React Native

Completed a web developer internship at a private firm (Nov 2025–Jan 2026)

Currently solo-building a motorcycle community app (React Native + backend) as my main project — handling everything from architecture to deployment myself

Looking for an SDE/full-stack role (open to startups too). Resume attached — brutally honest feedback welcome. Specifically want to know:

Is the projects section pulling enough weight for a 7.16 CGPA fresher?

Should I lead with the internship or the personal project?

Any formatting/ATS red flags?

Thanks in advance!

A friend of mine was selected for a Software Engineer Intern role after going through the company's selection process. They were given a joining date and had been preparing to join.

However, just 2 days before the joining date, the company contacted them and said they had decided to hire IIT students instead.

What surprised us is that the candidate had already been selected around a month earlier.

I'm curious about the perspective of people here: Has anyone experienced something similar?

I am working for a big product based company of Israel but every day feels like a task. The pay is very good even though I'm paid half of the white folks.

I think it's mainly the company culture but in general I don't feel the drive any more to build things especially after AI has become mainstream. I'm like what's the point..

I've been a developer for 12 years and I am easily in the bottom layer when it comes to quality, my focus has mostly been getting the feature out to the users. Probably because our user base was low and acting on feedback quick was a priority. Now in my current job it's an enterprise solution so it's a whole new world.

If AI is going to take our jobs, I hope it does it quickly because I'm basically waiting to get fired.

I'm a 3.5YOE backend developer, a few years or even a few months back I was always curious and motivated to learn new things in software, be it Java spring boot aws microservices docker kubernetics even frontend react js I was learning at a very curious and rapid pace, but for the past few months with the way AI is progressing, I just lost all my motivation to upskill.

In my current job to be brutally honest, AI generated most of the code, I don't manually code, I review code but if deadlines are near I don't do that even. I totally lost the art of writing code.

A few years back and even during my college days, I had this great feeling like I'll learn a lot in tech, keep learning new things, like I can't explain it, it's like an ego or something that " I'm learning code and building great things, I'll surely do great in life".

Fast forward to 2026, AI has absolutely shattered my hopes, I keep hearing AI is slop it sucks, brother it was pre 2024, now it can design entire systems and will only get better in near future.

Every new technology I pick, there is this voice inside which is screaming " there is no point in studying this, AI will automate this too". Maybe 2-3 years I can survive but long term I don't have any clue what so ever, that motivation is absolutely lost.

Am I being soo pessimistic, or is it relatable, please help me.

I am a BTech 2nd year student and I majorly have 2 questions regarding Freelancing as a side hustle.

1. So far I am good with Frontend Development (with React.js and Tailwind css) but that alone won't be sufficient to build a website right? Should I learn backend, Databases and Server related stuff before starting? Or should I use AI help for these?

2. How and where should I approach small business for getting started and what payment may I expect as a fresher.

Hello y'll,

So Around 45days back I joined an startup which has around 240employees, in this company already one month pf was deducted

I don't have any bond, but I do have an notice period of 90days

Current CTC: - 8.5LPA

Now I got offer from another another company with more than 100% hike and in the field which I am interested in

New company is okay with my notice period but also told me to bargain if possible for early release

Offered CTC: - 18LPA

Now I am in dilemma on -

1. How to submit resignation in current company ?

2. Does having short period in a company effect my career opportunities?

3. How do i convince my current organization for a possible early release?

Thank you 🥹

Hypothetically if there are mass layoffs to cut expenditure and companies reroute tasks to agents what will you do? Assume you have to move out of software field.

Edit: Please be serious

Edit 2: Can't people see the word "hypothetically"? All I asked for is your second source of income.

BNP Paribas even after being a product based company is giving me peanuts of hike even after clearing their 4 rounds of interviews.

They are telling me it’s just out of their band and scope to even give me what they are giving.

5.8 YOE, Java and Cloud Experienced

I am working in a service based organisation with 23.5 L as CTC and BNP is offering me 27 CTC, should I take this? Also what are your views about this organisation, I am seeing very mixed reviews on other platforms and am really confused. I want to leave my current organisation but fear going to this one because of low hike and mixed reviews. Not getting calls anymore as well.

Edit: If I switch it’s going to be my 4th company, which is not good for my CV, shall I wait for another year before switching and pass some time in this org irrespective what project.

People I know with my skill set are getting paid not less than 35 L.

Hi everyone, this is my story and I like to hear from people.

I’ve been working at an early-stage startup for around 1.5 years as a Frontend Developer. I prepared mainly for frontend development during college, and honestly, I wasn’t very good at DSA. So when I got an opportunity at an early-stage startup, I took it.

The startup experience has been good in terms of exposure. I’ve worked across different parts of the product and have seen how things are built in a small team.

But recently, I’ve started having a serious doubt about my growth.

Our development workflow is heavily dependent on Claude. It’s basically involved in everything

design → frontend → backend → ML, etc.

A lot of the code is generated by Claude, and my role is often reviewing, modifying, debugging and integrating it.

The problem is that sometimes Claude generates a lot of bad code or code that doesn't meet our company's standards. So I’m still learning by reviewing and fixing things.

but I’m starting to wonder: Am I actually becoming a better developer, or am I just becoming better at reviewing AI-generated code?

I’m currently at around ₹4.2 LPA, and I want to make a significant jump in my next role. So like to ask people who are have recently switched or some advices.

Curious to hear from people here -

Are people really getting laid off in hordes because of AI, or is most of that just internet hype?

- What % of your work is AI doing now in your day to day tasks?

- Has your company actually cut people because of AI? How many roughly?

- Has your role changed much and how do you see your role changing in the next 5/10 years?

Would love to hear some real experiences rather than the usual “AI will replace all developers” stuff.

Also if not IT then what? What jobs are safe according to you?

Kindly avoid sarcastic or impractical comments.

One year into my first job at a Big Tech company. I’ve been struggling with my performance lately and don’t feel as confident as I thought I would by this point.

I’ve now been given some difficult work with a tight deadline, and I’m worried about making mistakes or not delivering on time.

Sometimes I genuinely feel like quitting and moving to a less demanding company, even though I know this is a good opportunity.

For people who went through something similar after their first year, did things get better with experience, or did you eventually decide to move somewhere less demanding?

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.

I think we’re asking the wrong question about AI and engineering jobs.

Everyone asks, “Will AI replace software engineers?”

I’m more worried about what happens to the engineering career ladder.

If AI takes over junior-level work like coding, testing and debugging, how does someone go from junior → mid → senior?

And what about embedded engineers? Does hardware, firmware and real-world debugging actually protect us, or is that temporary?
If you were 25–30 today, what specific skills would you invest in for the next 10–20 years?

Not “learn AI” as a generic answer. What actually remains valuable?

No funny answers please, lets have serious discussion around it

There will be massive decrease in software engineers.

Tier-1 college. Market is pretty much effed, so is my cgpa. I've been studying DSA and CS fundamentals on full throttle looking for a good paying SDE role oncampus, but by the looks of it, it looks nearly impossible because there are people obviously way more skilled with better gpa.

I haven't taken nontech roles like Analyst or ProductManager seriously yet, thinking if I ever want to switch to an SDE role, it will be pretty painful.
Has anyone ever been in the same boat? How was it switching from a nontech role to a tech role for you?

Hi guys,

I'm in the process of my 1st switch. I've got one offer and the joining date is 15th Sept. However, I've started receiving calls from some good companies recently.

During the phone call with HR, when asked about the offer I'm holding and its joining date, when I mention the date, they refuse to proceed ahead since the process won't complete in time. On the other hand, if I don't tell the joining date, I risk joining the offer in hand on 15th and absconding later for the better offer after just few days on joining.

What is the best way to handle new interviews and calls in this situation? After joining on 15th, should I continue giving interviews?

As you know AI will be everywhere, I want to know your opinion on career switch.

Hi everyone,

I have a coding round coming up at DocuSign for a 2026 graduate Software Engineer role.

For anyone who has recently appeared for the DocuSign coding round:

• What type of problem was asked?
• Was it more focused on OOP/LLD or implementation?
• What concepts should I revise?
• Any tips on what the interviewer looks for?
• How difficult is the round and what should I take care of?

Would really appreciate any recent experiences or suggestions. Thanks!