Robotics Software Testing Engineer, Factory Orchestration

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.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗝𝗼𝗯𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮

There exists a 30:40:30 split where the scale indicates low to intense ambiguity of outcomes. It is also understood that the same is correlated deeply with the compensation that these folks earn, with the exception of top 10%ers within each job function who earn great regardless. 1. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝟯𝟬%: About 20-30% of white collar jobs are absolutely menial that relies purely on a human in the loop model, where the role of an individual is limited to point and click on a screen. Jobs like this could be something along the lines of compliance, inventory tracking, etc. where approving a certain decision relies on a human. These jobs are among the most susceptible to automation, even without advanced Machine Learning. Perhaps, it's a matter of trust. People prefer human accountability over machines when it comes to decision-making, due to an intrinsic trust in humans over machines. 𝟮. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝟰𝟬%: Around 40% of jobs fall into a middle ground: they involve interaction, file management, and value creation but remain somewhat detached from core decision-making. These roles are often found in Big4, WITCH, large MNCs, and marketing/advertising sectors, representing a standard job that offers a decent income and work-life balance, though the level of fulfilment can be debated. Typically, those in this category have moderate personal ambitions or high ambition with a low risk appetite. 𝟯. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝟯𝟬%: This is inclusive of folks who are either: A. Work on the cutting edge in their respective fields. B. Run enterprises. C. Work in well run companies and took exceptional risk Almost exclusively they work/studied in STEM related fields and coupled it with smart risk taking. It also consists of folks who thrive in ambiguity and have the intellectual horsepower to drive outcomes in uncertain environments. I posit that our positioning within this tier-list determines our outlook towards life and work.

Help!

I am working as a Product Manager for a blue collar company within a large company. Although everything is good prima facie - good pay, work hours, people. However I am not intrinsically motivated towards the work. Each day feels like a drag and I feel I am wasting my time here. The only thing which is holding me back is the great pay I do not know what to do. Honestly want to take a break and chill to figure things for couple of months but then the thought of not finding a job or being jobless scares me. The notice period is also 90 days Any thoughts?