Starting with unpaid roles and then ₹6 LPA in Bengaluru, a tech professional revealed how he built a career to secure a ₹1.4 crore package. A 35-year-old tech professional recently went viral after sharing his remarkable career progression on Reddit. Emerging from an Tier-3 engineering college in Uttar Pradesh, the cloud specialist detailed his journey from unpaid early work to earning lucrative international paychecksThe techie’s post about his salary progression has prompted varied responses. (Representational image). (Unsplash)“Salary Progression over the years- 35M,” the Reddit user wrote, giving a list of his salary progression over the years.Also Read: ‘Salary below ₹1 lakh? Switch jobs’: Man says professionals should chase growth before opportunities shrinkTechie’s salary progression:Org 1 - Free fund (Delhi) - less than a yearOrg 2 - 6 LPA (Blr) - 2 yrsOrg 3 - 7 LPA to 9 LPA (Blr) - in 4.7 yrsOrg 4 - 17 LPA to 35 LPA (Blr) - in 5 yrsOrg 5 - 70 LPA (Blr) - Did not join this company but it made me realise I am worth it.Org 6 - Client A - 1.15 Cr - ~2 yrs (USD)Org 6 - Client B - 1.40 Cr - Current (USD)He explained that in addition to his salary from his regular job, he also earned close to ₹20,000 from side gigs during the early days of his career.Explaining his background, he continued, “Below average college related to Uttar Pradesh Technical University,” adding a few lines about his skillset.How did social media react?An individual posted, “Awesome man, so happy to see people grow! Btw, when you say USD, does it mean you relocated to another country like an expat and getting your salary in NRE account?” The OP responded, “Thanks a lot. Yes, I relocated, and get my paycheck in the USD. And, yes, I opened NRE/NRO account for the same.”Another expressed, “How does a day in your life look like? I'm trying to understand the wlb and whether you get time for workout/ hobbies etc.” The OP explained, “Currently? Yes, WLB is good. I do not open laptop after 5 PM (Unless it is prod). (Hamesha se aisa nahi tha, I have worked for 16 hrs a day, as well). Yes, I do have hobbies. I am local club level cricket player (All Rounder). Kinda famous in the small community that I play. I do workout 4-6 days a week. (10K steps is mandatory for me, every single day).”A third commented, “Free fund?” The OP clarified, “In Matlab, you don't get paid. More like gain experience by doing the work, don't focus on money. It is more of a slang in the northern part of India.”Also Read: Indian man earning $100,000 in Australia explains why INR conversion is misleading: 'Same salary, different country'A fourth wrote, “What's your total YOE? How did you find the freelance clients and your current USD paying company?” The OP said, “I have 14+ yrs of experience in IT. I started my career as a developer, and build and release engineering was 20 percent of my actual job. I am a very old rice in build and release engineering space, which then evolved to devops and then cloud got clubbed. My LinkedIn got hits because of my YouTube, I was once lowkey famous in devops space in India. That is how people approached me for side gigs.”(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. Hindustantimes.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)Trisha Sengupta works as Chief Content Producer at Hindustan Times with over six years of experience in the digital newsroom. Known for her ability to decode the internet’s most talked-about moments, she specialises in high-engagement storytelling that bridges the gap between viral trends and traditional journalism.