An Indian professional’s experience of failing JEE and then receiving a hefty package has struck a chord online, after he shared the details on Reddit. Despite not having a fancy degree from a top-tier college, the user claims that he bagged ₹21 LPA job in a startup recently.
According to the user, he failed to clear Joint Entrance Exam (JEE), and later took admission to what he described as the “worst possible college” for a BSc in Mathematics, where he failed all subjects in the first semester.
During the Covid period, he slipped into depression and later appeared for the NIT MCA entrance, which he again failed despite preparing hard, he wrote in the post.
Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. Livemint has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.
“An introvert guy at school, used to be a pure mediocre in school. 10th - 92%. Then started downfall of all kinds in my life. But I always wanted to become Software Engineer from 10th itself. 2019 12th - 72% JEE Main rank ~6Lakhs State JEE rank ~ 53k,” the user shared on the social media platform.
“All together this was my situation in 2022-23. Extremely poor, complete hopeless,” he said.
The situation, he said, began to improve in August 2023, when he landed his first part time job earning ₹7,000 a month. He later took up some freelance works and secured a 6 lakh-a-year job, though he was fired after five months in 2024.
That year, he made a final attempt at his university exams and passed them, completing the degree. In October, the user claimed that he got a new job with ₹7 lakh annual package and joined soon after.
“Definitely wasn't happy with what I had. Started preparing and interviewing. Fast forward to Oct'25,” he said.
According to the user, the ultimate breakthrough came when he received two two job offers from mid-level startups. He joined one of them with a base salary of 21 lakh per annum, along with ESOPs.
He ended the post saying that he recently turned 25 year old, adding that he “feel this is way better than I thought where I could end. The journey is not finished but still at least now in better and happier shape”
Curated by Ahmed Ibrahim
