Confused between the need for upskilling and WLB

Same as title. These days due to low job security and having faced layoff last year, I always feel the need to continuously do interview prep like DSA, LLD, etc even when I am not actively looking for a job. Plus, due to new technologies coming up, I feel the need to keep upskilling too. If I don't upskill or do interview prep continuously, I feel guilty as if I am wasting time. I feel like at this point, I am just living life to upskill and interview prep. Is there a way to balance all this along with work as it gets very tiring after a while and I feel burnt out?

Basically the title. I am a 2024 grad here, many of my batch people have this question. At different years of experience how much time do you study/upskill apart from jobs on weekdays and weekends you. Is it different for different yoe ? How do you maintain WLB balance ?

I'm a b sc graduate. I'm currently working in a company for 2.52LPA. In- hand is literally 17.2k. I completed two years in Feb 2024. Now I have 2 YOE but no proper skill, with no proper working experience. I going nowhere staying here in the current company. Should I resign now and upskill or Should I upskill,get another offer and then resign. Please pour your suggestions. Also, please tell which technology can I pick and start learning. I strongly feel like it's now or never.

Comment down below your CTC and Experience and let others judge you that you need a switch or not. Mine is 7 LPA, Newly joined at Deloitte USI.

I am a PM at an edtech startup. The company is not doing well and my boss is not a good leader. Although company has a runway of 2 years. For the past 3 months I have been doing program management. No product management related work at all. No one appreciates you here. It's mentally challenging to work here. No road map for myself. No appraisal. I'm just going on the job for salary. For the past week, I have been thinking about quitting and taking a break. Then look for a job. I know the market is tough but I have runway for 4-5 months. I have a total of 3 years of Product experience. What should you guys suggest. I really need your help here.

Hello people, I graduated last year and joined a fast-paced startup back in july as an SDE (2023 grad). So many things have changed so far within the company. Company has closed good series B funding. The top level management has changed, my manager and colleagues resigned due to the kind of work and cultural shift and lots of work but I stood there and delivered projects (was making them from scratch). Whatever was thrown on me during this time, I took that as an opportunity and delivered that. I literally worked on 4-5 tech stacks and built complex projects from scratch with 3 members team only. Now it seems like their ask is never ending and they again want me to put in another techstack since the existing products we built are working fine and we are just maintaining it now. The culture of the company is still very good despite having lots of work though the pay is above average. I am seeing my friends around me joining another company and getting much better hikes. I also want to make a switch but deep down in my heart I have these questions coming up: 1. Should I switch before completing 2 years since it's my first job and I have spent only 1 year so far here. I really don't want to make this habit of switching again and again. 2. The kind of bonding I have made with my colleagues so far. Will I be able to get the same environment in the new company? 3. Should I join the startup again or should I target MNCs now. Because I have been building multiple complex projects for the past 1.7 years (this is my 3rd startup) from scratch and this is also getting normalized for me. Is it time to work on a scale? 4. Feel less valued sometimes. Despite delivering lots of efforts, it seems like I am not getting valued much because it's kinda hardware company and things go around that only. 5. Although, I am working on complex projects here but sometimes I feel missing out if I hear what others are doing. Should I go to a pure software based company? 6. I am not making much here to be honest despite having much better coding skills (10 base + 2.5 PB + 2.5 VP) but I am able to manage my money well despite living in Bangalore. Should I be hungry for more? I would be happy to read your opinion on these guys.

Hey folks, I have 3+ yoe in backend development in early stage startup, where mostly I worked on building things from scratch. Wanted your opinions on what all things I should focus on for next phase of my career. Here is what I want to achieve at the end of next 2 years. 1. Good wlb job with above avg pay(50 lpa) and wfh 2. Want to make my profile and skillset such that I am able to switch job easily if required.

Software engineers having 1+ YoE working full-time (not internship), how do you folks upskill apart from regular work at the office?

With my small experiences in the past, I haven't seen a good Startup with WLB for SDEs (0-3)yoe. I want to know whether you work in a startup where there's WLB. I understand that more work means more learning but I do not agree with this every time. There are way more SDEs working in very very small startups who have humongous learning with a pinch of money they are being paid. For me WLB means enough time to relax and spend time with my loved ones and also less mental stress. I have observed that the Leads/Managers will give any features no matter how complex they are, need to be built with 0 to no help specially for SDE-1 people. And later they are blamed and scolded or they're put in PIP and ultimately thrown out. What is your experience?

TCS gave me a system admin role as a fresher. It's extremely boring, same kind of work everyday. How do I switch to another company keeping in mind the 90 day notice period and my current job role?