How I Got ₹45 LPA Offer Without an IIT Degree (My Complete Journey)

📌My Background

I graduated from a tier-3 engineering college in 2020. No IIT, no NIT, just pure determination. Today, I work at a top tech company with a ₹45 LPA package. Here's my complete journey.

📌The Reality Check (Year 1)

After graduation, I joined a service company at ₹3.5 LPA. The work was boring—maintaining legacy code, attending endless meetings. I knew I wanted more.

What I Did Wrong Initially

Jumping between languages without mastering one

Watching tutorials without practicing

Not building real projects

Ignoring DSA completely

📌The Transformation (Year 2)

Month 1-3: Building Foundation

Picked Java as my primary language

Completed 200+ LeetCode problems (Easy → Medium)

Started learning Spring Boot seriously

Month 4-6: Going Deep

Built 3 real-world projects

Contributed to open source

Started learning System Design

Month 7-9: Interview Prep

Mock interviews every weekend

Practiced explaining my thought process

Prepared behavioral stories using STAR method

📌Key Resources That Helped

1For DSA: Prakalpana's DSA course + LeetCode Premium

2For System Design: YouTube channels + Prakalpana's HLD course

3For Java: Deep dive into JVM internals, concurrency

4For Projects: Built a URL shortener, e-commerce backend, chat application

📌The Interview Experience

Round 1: DSA (45 mins)

Graph traversal problem (solved with hints)

String manipulation (solved completely)

Round 2: System Design (1 hour)

Design Twitter's feed system

Focused on scalability and trade-offs

Round 3: Behavioral (45 mins)

"Tell me about a challenging project"

"How do you handle disagreements"

Round 4: Bar Raiser (1 hour)

Deep dive into my projects

📌My Advice for You

1Focus > Quantity: Master one stack deeply

2Build Projects: Theory without practice is useless

3Consistency: 2 hours daily beats 14 hours on weekends

4Community: Join study groups, find mentors

5Patience: It took me 9 months of serious prep

📌Your College Doesn't Define You

I've worked with IIT graduates, foreign university alumni. What matters is your skills, problem-solving ability, and attitude.

Start today. Your ₹45 LPA package is waiting.