A software engineer has shared how a series of calculated career moves, job switches and salary negotiations helped him nearly triple his annual compensation within a year.
In a Reddit post titled “Increased my salary by 3x within the span of a year,” the techie, who has nearly 5 years of experience, reflected on his journey from earning ₹7.8 LPA at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to securing a ₹24.8 LPA package at an MNC.
“If someone had told me in June ’25 that I would be earning 3x my salary by June ’26, I would never have believed them,” the techie wrote.
In the post, he said that he began his career at TCS through the Ninja profile with an annual package of ₹3.3 lakh. He shared that he was assigned to a project that exposed him to technologies such as Java, Spring Boot, AWS, Angular and Python, which he credited for helping shape his career.
But despite spending nearly 4 years on the same project, receiving strong performance ratings and clearing TCS’s Wings 1 (Digital) examination, the techie said that his compensation rose to only ₹7.8 LPA.
Looking for better opportunities, he then decided to switch jobs in July 2025. At the time, he claimed that he had multiple offers, including a fully remote position and another position in his hometown. However, he said that he ultimately chose a Bengaluru-based opportunity that offered the highest compensation, despite his reluctance to relocate.
“As an introvert, I find it hard to make new friends and I hated relocating. But one of my colleagues told me that I should accept the Bengaluru offer and relocate because it would be better for my career,” he wrote.
The decision paid off. He said that after relocating to Bengaluru, he settled into a new city, built friendships and gained exposure by working directly from the client’s office. “After a month, I started reporting to the client’s office. I made new friends (thanks to my extroverted colleagues). Everything was going well for 6 months,” he wrote.
From ₹7.8 LPA to ₹24.8 LPA
However, things changed when cost-cutting measures led to several colleagues being released from the project. “One of my favorite colleagues and another teammate got released from the project due to cost-cutting. A month later, another colleague’s project ended from their company’s side,” he said.
Concerned about job stability, he then began exploring new opportunities. The techie said that he received an offer from a fintech company after clearing a walk-in interview, but was disappointed when the final compensation was only 22% higher than his existing salary. “I didn’t have any better option, so I accepted the offer and resigned,” he said.
The techie said that he subsequently interviewed with several companies, including Philips, Delta Airlines and American Express Global Business Travel (AMEX GBT). While Delta Airlines declined his salary expectations, AMEX GBT offered him a 50% hike over his then-current compensation.
He eventually joined AMEX GBT this month with a package of ₹24.8 lakh per annum, the user said.
Concluding his post, he said that taking risks, relocating for better opportunities and continuously interviewing helped accelerate his salary growth.
(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)
