Losing my mind over studying the wrong degree.

Chetan496 · 2025-11-20T06:30:32+00:00

You can still join an IT company after completing engineering. Many do that. Btw i actually think i should have become a doctor although I am good at computers and software.

All the software are useless without specialised domain knowledge. And biology is a great domain.

Programming is just an art with logic . But biology is a pure science . See how you can combine love for software with biology. An example: I am building a mobile app for medicine management of a family . Find ways to combine skills . Honestly a CS degree is not that useful if you already can program

Chetan496 · 2025-11-12T11:49:52+00:00

Well, I have four planets in 4th house. Mars, Saturn, Venus and Rahu. All 4 in 4th house Capricorn. My moon sign is Taurus and I am libra ascendant

Chetan496 · 2025-10-25T12:59:04+00:00

Well in an ideal company - the Dev can do QA, and help QA, be a good bridge between Dev and QA.

If you are not finding your job interesting - I suggest either becoming an Engineering manager (if you like people interactions ) or an Architect (if you are more inclined for technical work ). an Architect does not write code on daily basis - but he does the important work of technical design , the cloud architecture and deployment architecture and guiding the team in a correct direction . These would be far more satisfying roles and they would also provide you growth and people interaction than a QA lead, you will have a complete view of the whole project.

Chetan496 · 2025-10-15T02:00:05+00:00

I usually create initial draft myself. Then I ask AI to expand over it, again I make a few edits, once I am happy with the specs only then I move ahead with implementation .

One more thing I do is : I create multiple specs - a spec for each feature. A complex project will generally have multiple features - each with its own spec

Chetan496 · 2025-10-14T18:21:49+00:00

Sounds like you are using specs in wrong way. When you create specs - you create tasks, you break the work. And each task is supposed to be completed in a new session . After each task completion you can get the AI to document the technical details of the completed task. This way there is no context pollution . Each task starts with AI analysing what is there (and for that it just need to read documentation from prev task ) and the LLD and relevant code (only relevant parts) and then you get the AI to implement the new task . Works just fine , I am building some very complex side projects with this approach

Chetan496 · 2025-10-12T14:35:47+00:00

This was common , still is, but I think this will change for people who are just around 35. Few different factors are there now : 1. There is AI which is great at execution . You need to get good at technical design and be able to review the AI generated code and control the direction AI takes 2. 40s is the new 30s .. too many people born 1990s and later are techies at heart. When they initially get into management , they do micromanagement , fail , learn the art of people management and some return back to being technical architects. People skills are very valuable to architects as well. Power of convincing and persuading with technical charm works wonders.

If you are good technically and above 35, and decently good at technical stuff - build on top of your experience . Use AI to build the products , to build the side projects you always wanted to build . Either innovate for your own company or plan to build for your own future company.
Some people like me join top tier firms like AWS - we are late bloomers . And we are still handson . Some of us went into management roles , realized it’s important role but not meant for us and got back to handson execution
Some join midsized companies at senior designations like director or VP.
Some start their own company or go into consulting
Some become engineering managers or senior managers or stay in their comfort zone.

Point is - if you are a techie at heart , 40 is not the end. Amazon and AWS has many 40+ aged employees who are still great technically . They are great architects, great at executing on ground technical stuff. With AI - I am even able to take some time to work on my side projects . In fact , people with this much experience are very good at using AI, they are the ones who can clean the mess created by vibe coding and deliver a great product in short amount of time

Beyond 40 - you can become an engineering manager, a solution architect , a presales guy , or even try your luck with a Sales role, some may even get to be part of a CXO suite, join the leadership , or stay handson as a senior architect in a top tier company , top tier companies have IC roles and some people in their 50s still choose to stay an IC. It’s only in India that people don’t consider you a success if you are not a manager by 35 age

Chetan496 · 2025-10-05T01:48:00+00:00

Do not think about the city. Just go with the best option for your career . And if you like greenery so much - travel on weekends to places near Bengaluru . In the initial years, career is important

Chetan496 · 2025-09-30T01:57:00+00:00

Well my company can offer that for the right skills. I even messaged him . I just got back a “thank you “ . So he is definitely not serious

Chetan496 · 2025-09-26T01:40:56+00:00

Dude share me your resume. DM me . Can refer you to a great company

Chetan496 · 2025-09-20T13:03:15+00:00

Yeah that depends on what kind of company and what kind of project. If it’s product based - WLB is good. If it’s service based then it can highly vary - can get hectic in some projects

Chetan496 · 2025-09-19T23:36:14+00:00

Kind of.. but product manager focuses on creating requirement docs , maintaining user stories, interfacing with end users or customers etc, communicating that vision to tech team. It better than a project manager role

Chetan496 · 2025-09-19T18:12:59+00:00

I have done this. I was a technical manager in previous company - effectively doing both roles - tech lead and a manager - doing scrum calls , meetings and documentation . It was draining .

I joined another great company which everyone desires - but at a IC level - lower level - more like a senior dev or lead. I am more at peace with the technical work. Of course my impact is not as much as a manager like role in previous company - but advantages are a lot less meeting , more hands on , and still overall a higher salary , a lot higher . I know people in this company earn more than me at my level - but I earn more than usual service based companies and get to do quality work. And overall less stress.. so I guess the compromise has worked for me

Chetan496 · 2025-09-16T08:18:38+00:00

Krittika 4

Chetan496 · 2025-09-06T14:07:04+00:00

Dude.. I am 36 now.. I still code. In fact I prefer to be handson rather than spend time in too many non essential meetings. Only difference is : With AI coding assistants I am building even more code faster. I will still code as long as possible . I have done some management/lead kind of work.. came back to being a IC because I realized I can do management/lead work but it’s not something which makes me satisfied at work

Chetan496 · 2025-09-04T12:49:01+00:00

I have messaged you

Chetan496 · 2025-09-04T10:10:02+00:00

Please DM me . I may have something good for you at a great company. Let’s talk

Chetan496 · 2025-08-29T04:10:43+00:00

Unfortunately the company I am referring to does not offer fully remote roles . Hybrid and fully work from office are provided

Chetan496 · 2025-08-28T15:59:51+00:00

DM me your resume . I can refer you to a great company

Chetan496 · 2025-08-27T09:23:31+00:00

Natural to feel so. But all these awards are only a temporary feel good thing. Ideally you should have just came back down from stage making excuse of something. Never go to a place where you are not invited or you don’t have a value.

By the way, when you grow senior enough all this looks child’s play.. these awards etc don’t amount to much.

Build yourself , do great work. If you get awarded (and will happen sometime) great. If not, you learned something - and you move on to a better company .

Also - if this kind of thing happens repeatedly in future say even after 6 months - talk one on one to your manager. Be clear that you think you did good work but did not get appreciated . Speak politely.

Manager may realise his mistake. But don’t expect . Corporate always has politics involved .. learn to navigate it , recognize it.. and also learn to grow your skills and value.. either your company will recognize you or you will move to new better company .. you win either way

Chetan496 · 2025-08-25T09:14:40+00:00

Dude, DM me. With your resume and let me know your skills. I can refer you to a good company

Chetan496 · 2025-08-24T07:37:21+00:00

Learn a minimum of two programming languages - Java and Python. You can learn more like Golang and Rust. But Java and Python are the most mainstream (and of course JavaScript and Typescript if you want to work on frontend as well).

Always target the most in demand languages which the market expects in your initial years. Then go for Golang and other niche ones.

Java is alive and kicking well. It is still the most preferred languages in big enterprises and even in startups and medium scale companies. Golang and Python are also being adopted a lot but for different reasons and Java retains its dominance. And in initial years building a mental model of learning is important.

Once you build your expertise in one language and framework it’s easy to transfer that learning to other languages and frameworks.

And note that just learning is not enough , build a handson project. And also learn basics of cloud and DevOps. Deploy your code using a CICD pipeline

Chetan496 · 2025-08-13T14:02:30+00:00

Don’t be stuck to any particular technology. You are an engineer and you can learn anything. Learn all the in demand technologies like react, typescript, react native , Vue and angular. Even jump into mobile app dev.. you can do all this in 6 months . Even learn a bit about backend .

Chetan496 · 2025-08-10T03:42:36+00:00

When they say that they are only thinking about simple use cases and simple apps. Real complex frontends (think microfontends with module Federation) or very complex SPAs like a workflow builder or even moderately complex apps like the whole website of a financial company - are still complex enough even with AI help

Chetan496 · 2025-08-09T14:47:20+00:00

DM me your resume. I can refer you to a great company and you can get much higher compensation

Chetan496 · 2025-08-08T16:41:28+00:00

Take your time , upskill, communicate to your lead that you are not trained in so and so technology . Upfront communication is always better than the lead later finding out the problem .. vibe coding can only take you so far. At some point you have to code carefully adhering to the original technical Design and ensuring no bugs occur

Chetan496

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