“From ₹3.5 LPA to ₹35 LPA in 3 Years”: Indian techie reveals the strategy that changed everything

An Indian software engineer has gone viral after revealing how he jumped from a ₹3.5 LPA package to ₹35 LPA in just three years after BTech - and according to him, he did it completely on his own, without mentors, referrals, or any “insider guidance.”Sharing his journey on Reddit, the developer explained that the biggest game-changer wasn’t luck, but constantly changing his prep strategy with every job switch.He started out at a typical service-based company earning ₹3.5 LPA. Fast forward three switches later, and he landed a ₹35 LPA role at a leading product-based company. One detail that caught everyone’s attention? He maintained a massive 1,750-day LeetCode streak throughout the grind.According to the engineer, every switch demanded a different level of preparation. For his first jump - from a service company to a mid-level product firm - the focus was mostly on medium-level DSA questions and being able to explain solutions properly during interviews.To crack that stage, he followed a simple but disciplined routine: one easy coding question daily for six months, completing the famous NeetCode 150 list, and doing mock interviews every week. He deliberately skipped expensive courses and advanced system design prep because, as he put it, those topics simply weren’t needed at that point.Things got more intense during his second switch, when his salary moved from ₹12 LPA to ₹22 LPA. This time, speed mattered. Backend concepts mattered. Competitive coding mattered.He began participating in weekly LeetCode contests and openly admitted the initial phase was rough. “The first 15 contests were terrible. Around the 20th one, things finally started clicking. There’s honestly no shortcut - just repeated practice under pressure,” he shared.Alongside coding, he also worked on behavioural interviews using the STAR method and brushed up on system design basics through YouTube videos and books.For the final leap - from ₹22 LPA to ₹35 LPA - interviews became far less about textbook answers and far more about system design discussions and solving open-ended engineering problems. To prepare, he practised mock system design rounds with friends and revisited previously solved hard-level coding questions to sharpen speed and pattern recognition.Beyond technical prep, the engineer credited three habits for his rapid growth:staying consistent with his daily LeetCode streak,learning coding patterns instead of blindly solving hundreds of questions, andswitching companies every 12–18 months to maximise salary growth.He ended his post with a line that resonated with many young developers online:“Waiting for yearly hikes is probably the fastest way to stay underpaid. The market usually values your skills better than your manager does.”