Art Director

Advice from someone who went from 8LPA to 84LPA in a decade

I saw the IBM post on Grapevine, and seeing the positive response felt the urge to share my story as well. I tried finding my old offer letters, but I couldn't because I lost that email account. For the first 4 years of my career, I worked in IT companies. **My roles were less than stellar.** I had a nasty smoking addiction, and honestly, I was probably wasting my life away. **This changed when I joined Deloitte.** While going through some old files, I finally found my offer letter from Deloitte. It was from 6 years ago, **16LPA (with a 1L signing bonus** I was so thrilled about back then). Looking back, I never imagined I’d be where I am now, working at Google, with **84LPA CTC.** When I first joined Deloitte, the excitement of a signing bonus and the thrill of joining a Big 4 firm were more than enough. I had no grand plan, just a desire to learn and improve. Over the years, my journey took me through moments of doubt, endless learning, and unexpected growth. A few pieces of advice I’d like to share for anyone building their career: 1. **Growth is Never Linear. If it Is, You’re at the Wrong Place** Early in my career, I felt behind. Friends who jumped into startups, management consulting, or fast-growing roles like Product Management would talk about their rapid raises and big titles. I didn’t feel like I was falling behind, but I’d sometimes wonder if my slower path would pay off. In the end, eventually, **your intrinsic value catches up with your market value.** If you have a high-paying job but don’t provide value that matches it, then sooner or later you will have to concede to a lower job offer. Similarly, if you are underpaid right now but bring real skills and value to an organization, then **you are bound to achieve a great offer down the line.** So focus on adding value, money will follow. 2. **Specialize, but More Broadly** In each role, I focused on understanding the business deeply, working on projects that pushed my skills, and staying updated with industry trends. Moving to different companies at key points helped me **diversify my expertise without losing depth.** **Know when to stay and when to go.** It's hard, but you get better with age. 3. **Networking is Underrated** I realized this very late, honestly, **it took me 6 years to figure this out.** I made it a point to connect with mentors, those who had navigated similar paths or who excelled in areas I admired. Those conversations don’t have to be formal; sometimes it was just a chat near the watercooler, sometimes a quick Slack message. But those relationships brought **insights and encouragement I couldn’t have found alone.** 4. **Negotiate, but also out-deliver anyone** I’m a **BIGGG believer in fair negotiation**; if you bring value, know your worth. However, each pay raise or promotion felt meaningful only when I felt my contribution matched it. The most satisfying moments weren’t just about the LPA numbers but the **challenges I’d overcome and the projects I was proud of.** This is something I feel goes wrong when people glorify salary numbers but not impact on platforms like Quora, Reddit, and even Grapevine. **Don’t seek validation; make your own path.** So here I am, ten years later, looking at this piece of paper from Deloitte that marked my start. It’s a reminder of the journey, **one filled with doubt, hard work, and quiet growth.** To anyone who’s just starting or feels behind in their career, know that there’s no “one right way.” **Every career path has its own twists.** All I can hope is that this was helpful to you.

What habits led to your success?

Do the opposite everyone else was doing. People behave in herds. That is easy to exploit. 1. someone at my work said I couldn't do that so I did that anyway 2. my direct line manager said I can't do that so I did that anyway 3. internal policies forbid me from doing x,y,z so I did that anyway You see, most “fabricated” rules within an org, inclusive of whatever crap your manager might say often stem out of anxiety, fear of you surpassing them, or worse, “never change a winning formula”. If you go left where others go right, outside of the fact that others notice you directly (which is a plus), you'll have the ability to prove others wrong. And if you focus on profit or loss related activities, you'll get a lot of shouting, until you reach the outcome, bottom end, that you managed to make doe ($$$) for the firm, or reduce cost. Either will silence whoever was bitching at you… I've always told my teams; you are not here to do your job, you are here to do mine in the future. So I threw them in meetings I was responsible for, and eventually they crawled up. Perfect, because I did the same, so I could hop from Director to Managing Director while they could go from VP to Director. Win-win. The other managers micro-managed the living bejeezus out of everyone else. Innovation is driven by exploring the steps outside of what we know, outside of what we feel comfortable with. Comfort zone is one of the most poisonous atmospheres that blocks success. Most people (psychologically) prefer a “comfort zone” approach (and become agitated when you cross that line), hence their; “let's not do that approach.” I get it, but don't support it, it does not lead to success, so I just do the opposite… and follow my own path, which lead to obvious success. 1. I mostly do holidays between tuesdays and Thursdays, they are the cheapest (airplane and hotels). 2. I mostly work during the summer, less in the winter. 3. When it rains, I go for a run. 4. When it's horrible weather, I took my family to theme parks. etc. I like being time-efficient, and above all, these methods are also the cheapest. Win-win. Most don't get that.

Navigating the pressure to constantly hustle: How do you avoid the comparison trap and focus on your own path?

The rise of social media has made it easier than ever to compare ourselves to others. I'll admit, I've fallen into the trap of scrolling through LinkedIn and feeling like I'm not achieving enough. How do you all navigate the pressure to constantly hustle and showcase your successes? Have you found ways to unplug and focus on your own path without getting caught up in the comparison game?