A student from a Tier 3 government engineering college has successfully transitioned from a campus with an average salary package of around Rs 4 lakh to a position as an SDE 2 at Amazon. This remarkable achievement highlights the importance of technical skills, competitive programming, and a supportive peer group in overcoming the challenges associated with campus placements. Vikas Alwys recently shared this inspiring journey on X.
However, the student chose to build his skills beyond the campus environment. The college reportedly did not have a strong coding culture, with limited exposure to competitive programming, coding contests and technical interview preparation. One of the key factors in his journey was the peer group he created outside his college. He had friends studying at IITs and NITs, through whom he remained connected to programming discussions and competitive coding. Instead of spending his college years relying only on campus opportunities, he focused heavily on coding, participated in contests and continued improving his technical skills. But he continued looking for better opportunities. The journey highlights that a college’s placement statistics need not define a student’s long-term career. Building technical expertise, finding ambitious peers and continuously learning can open opportunities beyond campus limitations. The story shows that your network is not limited to your college.
The engineer completed his BTech in Computer Science from JNTU Jagityal, a Tier 3 government college. The college had an average package of about Rs 4 lakh, with many students getting placed at companies such as TCS, Cognizant, Capgemini and Accenture, according to the post. His efforts helped him secure his first job at Infosys as a Specialist Programmer, with a package of around Rs 11 lakh per annum, nearly three times his college’s average package. Around three years after starting his professional career, he reportedly joined Amazon as an SDE 2, earning nearly Rs 64 lakh per annum.
As he said, “Your real network is your network.”
