‘Bhed Chaal’ vs reality: Unemployed IIT graduate at crossroads; the Internet asks, which is better — a PhD or a low-paying job? | Today’s news
An IIT degree, once considered a sure ticket to a high-paying engineering career, is facing a tough reality check. A recent graduate’s viral request for career advice has sparked a massive online debate about the tightening software job market, growing anxiety about AI and the collapse of traditional placement expectations.
Caught between a “bhed chaal” software engineering role and the looming threat of AI (artificial intelligence), a fresh BTech graduate said he was facing a tight deadline to choose between a low-paying start-up internship or switching to a PhD in quantum computing.
In a viral post, a recent graduate said, “I just completed my Btech IIT and as usual ‘Bhed Chaal’ also started preparing for SDE (Software Development Engineer), AI ML (Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning), Data Science Roles.
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A graduate shared that during the placement season he gave 7-8 interviews for various roles including PM, ML, DS etc. but some were rejected in the first round and 1-2 were rejected in the HR round.
However, the graduate said that he prepared thoroughly for DSA (Data Structures and Algorithms) but still failed to secure a single interview in the field. “Now my college just finished and I’m pursuing DSA, System Design and an after school internship (small startup, very low paying),” he wrote in the post.
So the unemployed IIT graduate turned to the Internet to solve his dilemma: get a PhD in quantum computing or continue with a low-paying job.
“Should I take the PhD route now because I’m afraid of AI taking over and so many layoffs already started in my respective branch (I prefer QC) or still apply until the end of June and see the results,” asked a Redditor.
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“Should I really keep grinding DSA and system design until I have an offer?” He said while calling on social media users to help him “make up his mind quickly”.
What did the netizens say?
Several social media users acknowledged that the tech job market is very bad right now, but suggested that a PhD is also tough and should only be considered if an IIT graduate is really into research.
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“I’m from IIT too… Job market is totally screwed.. I’m not getting the R&D jobs I want… Most of them are maintenance or troubleshooting jobs… I turned down a 23 LPA job offer just to do my PhD,” the user suggested.
Another user added: “Dude, same boat, non iit tho lol. If you really like research, then phd is fine, but don’t do it just to avoid getting fired. industry experience + strong projects > endless leetcode. Also, focus on 1-2 roles, not all at once. Either way, it’s just stupid, hard to find anything now.”
While another user suggested, “Going for a PhD is ‘Bhed Chaal’ again if your only reason is to ‘take AI’. You prefer QA because you heard it’s the next big thing in computing. Think for yourself and don’t ask random people here. They can’t help you. Introspect, understand what you like and what you don’t.”
Later in the comments section, a recent graduate shared that he had given up on the idea of a PhD. “My goals are narrowing further. I have projects in AI, software and backend engineering. I’m choosing between DS, AI Engineer or SDE! But I need to narrow down to 1 so I can fully focus on that.”
