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Job Ready: pick your starting point

~5 min

In short

This section is for people in India who want a software job. You might be a CS or IT student, a student from another branch, someone switching from a different career, or someone with a gap in their CV or who taught themselves. Everything here uses free resources. Find the row that matches you, go to the first page in that row, and follow it.

Here is the honest promise. Nobody can promise you a job: not this section, not a course, not a company. What this section gives you is sourced pay numbers, a plain picture of how hiring works, and a practice routine you can keep. The numbers are real but they are not a forecast for you. According to Levels.fyi (self-reported total compensation, checked 18 Oct 2026), 50 LPA total compensation sits just above the 75th percentile of all Indian software engineers, so reaching it two years after you start is rare. The reality check section explains why.

What matters most

Two skills carry most of the weight at strong companies: DSA and system design. Practise both as much as you can. Competitive programming and DSA practice can make the goal possible, and doing it across the question styles of many companies, not just one, is the best use of your time. Aim at the hardest-selecting companies, such as Media.net and Coinbase: if you can clear those, the others get easier. Everything else on this site supports those two. Nobody can promise an offer, but this is where practice pays most.

Pick your starting point

I am... Start at Realistic first goal
A CS or IT college student CS/IT student path Solve easy array and string problems on most days, and finish one small project you can explain line by line.
A student from a non-CS branch (ECE, EEE, Mech, Civil, other) Non-CS branch path Finish a free intro programming course and build one small program. Choose one target role before you go further.
Working, and switching into software Career switcher path Pick one target role and start one project that fits the role you want, such as data analysis, QA or frontend.
On a gap, low CGPA, or self-taught After a gap path Build two projects with public code and a clear README. Treat this as your first milestone, not as a job.

Go at the pace your life allows. A steady few hours a week beats a burst followed by two months off.

The whole map in one picture

There is no fixed schedule here. These are the topics and how they lead to each other. Each box has a target you can check on the topics and targets page.

flowchart TD
  A["Programming basics"] --> B["Terminal and git"]
  A --> C["Data structures<br/>and algorithms"]
  A --> E["CS fundamentals"]
  A --> F["Projects"]
  B --> F
  C --> D["Problem-solving practice"]
  D --> G["Interview ready"]
  E --> G
  F --> G
  E --> K["System design practice"]
  F --> K
  K --> G
  G --> H["Apply and mock interviews"]
  H --> I["First job"]

What is the same for everyone

  • Read the numbers with care. Pay figures in this section are self-reported and they mix base salary with stock and bonus. The pay page shows how to read them.
  • Use free sources first. CS50x from Harvard is free to follow on OpenCourseWare, with no prerequisites. The Odin Project and freeCodeCamp are also free routes into web development.
  • Learn the core subjects, not just the puzzles. Problem solving matters for most interviews, but so do data structures, operating systems, databases and networks. The foundations section covers these in one place.
  • Look at one real job posting every week. A posting tells you what the employer wants in your target role better than any guide, including this one.

Try this

Write three lines on paper: the row you are in, your target role, and the hours you can give each week for the next four weeks. Then open the first page of your row. Do not start anything else until you have read it.

Sources

  • Levels.fyi, India software engineer pay page, checked 18 Oct 2026: https://www.levels.fyi/t/software-engineer/locations/india
  • CS50x 2026, Harvard, checked 18 Oct 2026: https://cs50.harvard.edu/x/
  • The Odin Project, checked 18 Oct 2026: https://www.theodinproject.com/
  • freeCodeCamp learning path, checked 18 Oct 2026: https://www.freecodecamp.org/learn

Sections

  • Reality checkWhat jobs pay, how hiring works, and how rare 50 LPA at two years is. (4 pages)
  • Topics and targetsA map of what to learn and what you should be able to do, with no schedule. (1 page)
  • DSA and contestsTopic order, practice method, free resources, ratings and trackers. (7 pages)
  • CS fundamentalsOS, databases and SQL, networks and OOP at interview level. (6 pages)
  • Projects and resumeProjects that help, a one-page resume, GitHub and LinkedIn. (5 pages)
  • ApplyingWhere to apply, referrals, mock interviews and offers. (5 pages)
  • After the first jobWhen system design matters and what the first two years look like. (3 pages)
  • Your pathPlans for CS students, non-CS branches, career switchers and people after a gap. (5 pages)