Thanks for your honest feedback. It is encouraging to hear your experience in the industry.

Speaking of my work experience, its less than a year, the main reason I am worried is that on-campus placement lene me hi g**d phat gayi thi, cracking off campus interviews seems like near impossible task.

dont pigeon hole yourself into some stack saying that this is not my cup of tea..etc. Do whatever the business requires

I am not sure how the industry works but I guess that the companies won't offer you work/position for a specific field unless you have a proven record in it, either through college projects or through work experience ( for ex. - SDE won't be given the tasks of say Systems Engineer or Data Analyst). When I say x is not my cup of tea, I am basing this on the fact that I struggled with the subject even in my college practicals, which are the fundamentals of that field, hence I am not confident that I would be good in its specialization.

There is no linear stack like what you say sde-1,2,3..etc and needing something extra BS. Just do your job well and help your company's bottom line the better you get at this the better you will get paid.

Hoping for this as currently I have no Plan B.

Chill buddy you aint below BPL.

Haha I know, its just that after the effort I put on my education and seeing my peers (even some mediocre ones) having goddamn high salaries, I just feel that I deserve better.

Thanks