Same Rs 3.5 LPA offer, two very different choices: 4 years later, one reached Rs 38 LPA while the other switched domains

An online account comparing the career paths of two college batchmates has sparked discussion about how fresh graduates respond to low-paying mass-recruitment offers. According to the post, both received 3.5 LPA offers from Wipro in 2022, but made different choices. One rejected the offer and spent the next two years preparing independently, while the other accepted the job, continued building technical skills alongside work and later moved through higher-paying roles.

The comparison traces how their decisions played out over the following four years, with the first batchmate eventually taking a non-technical support position after struggling to secure an IT role, while the second moved from Wipro to a mid-tier company and then to a US-based technology firm.

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One graduate rejected the Wipro offer and spent two years preparing

The first batchmate, identified in the post as Batchmate A, viewed the 3.5 LPA offer as far below what he believed he was worth.

"I'm not working for peanuts. I'm worth 15 LPA minimum," he said before turning down the Wipro job and returning home.


According to the account, he then spent two years studying LeetCode in isolation in an effort to prepare for better software roles.

By 2024, however, hiring had slowed sharply. The post said the resulting gap in his employment history made recruiters more hesitant, and he ultimately accepted a non-technical support role after struggling to find another opportunity.

The other batchmate treated the first job as a starting point

Batchmate B took the same 3.5 LPA Wipro offer and moved into a shared PG with four occupants.

Rather than treating the job as the final destination, he used it as a starting point for gaining experience and developing additional technical skills. The post said he spent about 90 minutes each morning learning Kubernetes and Go while continuing with his project work.

That approach was followed by a move to a mid-tier company in 2024, where his salary increased to 8 LPA.

Two years later, in 2026, he moved again, this time joining a US tech firm with a package of 38 LPA, according to the account.

Two decisions, different career paths

The comparison is centred on what happened after the two graduates received the same initial offer rather than on the salary alone.

Batchmate A rejected the opportunity in pursuit of a much higher starting package, but the prolonged gap that followed coincided with a slowdown in hiring and eventually pushed him into a support role outside the technical track he had initially pursued.

Batchmate B accepted a modest starting salary and continued learning while gaining workplace experience. His subsequent moves were accompanied by substantial salary increases, from 3.5 LPA at Wipro to 8 LPA in 2024 and 38 LPA in 2026.

The account presents their contrasting paths as an example of how early-career choices can interact with broader hiring conditions and professional development.

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Online reactions focus on perseverance and personal choice

The comparison drew differing responses from users.

One person said, "I genuinely like this perspective. I personally have seen people treat placements like some serious endgame that has no future ahead of it. Perhaps not every chapter of life has to start with so much glamour. Perseverance is really important."

Another user offered a different view, writing, "Nothing wrong in rejecting something you didn't like at all! It might back fire, nobody knows but the liberty of doing what you love is a privilege, everybody can't afford!!!"

The discussion therefore centred not only on the outcomes described in the post, but also on whether accepting an unappealing first offer can provide a useful starting point, and whether rejecting such an opportunity can be a reasonable choice depending on an individual's circumstances.

The original post framed its broader lesson around humility, patience and continuous upskilling, arguing that early pride can have long-term consequences while sustained learning can pay off over time.