1.5Cr Salary and 0 Tax | Frontend Engineer Roadmap 2025

It's above 1. 3 crore. Now we know why there are no jobs in the market.

He has taken all those jobs. I only have one job. Which other companies have you cracked recently?

In the last six months, I’ve cracked eight companies. You’ve cracked so many companies! What was your strategy?

How many companies rejected you? There must be at least 30-40 companies who rejected me. Google was one of the companies, Coinbase was one of the companies, and Uber was one of the companies.

It’s not like if a small company rejects you, you can’t crack a big one. When you were in college, did AI exist at that time? AI wasn’t as advanced back then.

Now it’s somewhat prominent, but not completely. If you give AI a challenging question on DSA, it won’t be able to solve it. If you give a good question to ChatGPT, they won’t be able to solve it either—100% guaranteed.

So, our audience is really excited to learn about the roadmap to becoming a front-end engineer. But before that, let’s have a flash round. Basically, I’ll ask you a question, and you have to answer it in 1-2 sentences.

Can a non-CSE graduate pursue front-end development? Yes, easily. If someone wants to become a full-stack or front-end developer, can they skip DSA?

They can, but they shouldn’t. Personal projects or freelancing? I would say freelancing is better to start with.

Should someone focus on one framework or master multiple frameworks? If someone wants to become a front-end developer, how much time would it take to learn everything? Welcome to the podcast, Vaibhav.

Hello ,thank you, Fraz, for having me on this podcast. Vaibhav, can you give us a brief introduction for our audience? Yes, of course.

Hello, everyone. My name is Vaibhav Mishra, and I am a graduate of 2022. I am currently working as a front-end engineer at ByteDance.

Before this, I worked at Groww for almost three years, including my internship there, as a front-end engineer. Great. So, as a front-end engineer, which other companies have you cracked apart from ByteDance?

Recently, in the last six months, I’ve cracked eight companies. Can you tell us about the CTC and the name of the companies? I’ll share the approximate names of the companies.

The first company is CoinSwitch. The CTC there is between 40-45 Lakhs. SDE1?

Yes, this was for the SDE1 role. The same goes for ShopFlo; the CTC was also between 40-45 Lakhs, and the role was SDE1. Okay.

After this, there’s Atlassian. The package was good, around 55-60. However, the role was still SDE1.

I cracked this around February or March. Okay. At that time, I decided to stick with SDE1 because SDE2 was more than three months away.

Then, in June, I cracked Blinkit. Their yearly compensation is around 31 Lakhs. Okay.

31 is the base, and then they have some variables. After that, there’s UpStocks. Their CTC is approximately between 45-50 Lakhs.

Then comes Zeta. Their yearly package is around 55-60 Lakhs. And then Intuit.

Their yearly CTC is between 70-80 Lakhs. Finally, there’s ByteDance, which is above 1. 3 Crores.

Brother, it’s above 1. 3 Crore. Now we understand why there are no jobs in the market.

You’ve taken all the jobs. I’ve only taken one! Okay, okay.

Thanks for sharing this; it’s making us feel a little FOMO. But you’ve cracked so many companies. What was your strategy for applying?

How many rejections did you face? Tell us. Rejection?

If I cracked eight companies, then there must have been at least 30-40 rejections after the interviews. I mean, I don’t know the exact count, but 20-30 rejections would be easy to estimate. Some companies rejected me even after multiple rounds.

Google was one of the companies, Coinbase was one, and Uber was another. Getting rejected by big companies feels really bad. Even some startups and smaller companies rejected me.

It’s not like if you’re rejected by a small company, you can’t crack a big one. Absolutely. Does Google open positions for front-end engineers?

Yes, they have many positions, but they emphasize DSA. How many DSA rounds are there—five or more? If you’re applying for SDE or SWE roles, all the rounds are focused on DSA.

I didn’t go through so many rounds, but as far as I know, they have 2-3 DSA rounds and one round specific to your role. If you’re applying for front-end, that round will test your front-end skills. Okay.

When a student joins college, it’s very confusing. Should they focus on front-end, back-end, or AI? Should they study data analysis if they don’t like DSA?

How did you decide to go into front-end? So before we continue with the podcast, let’s take a short break. I hope you’re enjoying the podcast.

We’ve discussed many interesting topics so far, so stay tuned till the end. If you’re new to the channel, don’t forget to like the video and subscribe. Many students often ask when the next DSA batch will be live.

So, the wait is over. We’re launching DSA 4. 0, and it’s live now.

The link is in the description. Go and register. The classes will start on January 1st.

For those unfamiliar with our DSA batch, it’s a six-month course covering complete DSA. The first month is dedicated to programming fundamentals, including programming languages and basic logic building. You’ll have two options: C++ and Java.

You can choose either language to attend the classes and continue the course. Both C++ and Java codes will be provided in the class. It’s a mix of live and recorded sessions.

Most classes will be live, covering theory and solving problems. Extra questions will be assigned as homework, with solutions available in recorded videos. We also have live doubt sessions and TA support.

If you’re stuck, you can message the TA for help. If the text solution isn’t clear, you can even video call them to resolve your queries. It’s an interesting course where we cover everything in detail with real-life examples and practice over 500 problems.

We’ve received excellent feedback in the past. If any of our previous students are watching, please share your feedback in the comments to help others. You can also visit our website for testimonials.

Let me introduce the instructors. I’ll be one of them, and the other instructor is Saksham, a software engineer at Microsoft with great teaching experience. If you want a class demo, the link is in the description.

Check it out and decide. If you’re interested in learning DSA, this is a great option. Let’s continue with the podcast.

In college, we used to attend workshops. Initially, we’d join one or two, do some front-end, back-end, or even Android development. Front-end projects were relatively simple and visually appealing.

It was easy to show someone what you’d built, and I enjoyed that aspect. Working with Postman requests and getting successful responses didn’t feel as satisfying. But front-end development had a visual impact, which was exciting.

I started with Android development, but my laptop couldn’t handle it. That’s when I switched to front-end, as it was easier and more interesting to me. So, I ended up in the front-end field.

Great. When you were in college, was AI a thing back then? AI wasn’t very advanced during that time.

Honestly, the atmosphere was good, and companies were actively hiring. AI wasn’t seen as a major concern. Now, there’s a bit of a shift, but it’s still not significant.

Everyone thinks front-end engineers are at risk because of AI. In the next 5-10 years, I don’t see AI as a threat to front-end engineers. Beyond that, it’s hard to predict, but I doubt AI will fully replace us.

While AI is helpful for basic tasks, it struggles with complex challenges. If you give it a tough DSA question, it won’t solve it. If you give it a challenging question on DSA, it won’t be able to solve it—100%.

It’s still immature. If you provide it with a well-framed, advanced question, it won’t be able to handle it. By the way, AI is doing a lot of things, but you’re right.

When it comes to some DSA questions, it struggles. In fact, if you write an essay with a human touch, you can tell whether ChatGPT wrote it or not. Yes, AI can handle basic tasks that are helpful to you.

If you want to start a project or work on something complex like a BBS, you might need to relocate or change your environment, as handling such large-scale tasks can be challenging. However, I believe that ChatGPT won't be able to handle in upcoming years. Jobs, in my opinion, are safe for now.

Do you think front-end is a secure career option at this time? As a front-end developer myself, I would say yes. It is a promising field with plenty of opportunities.

I have an idea that Meta is there. When the company was doing it, I connected with seniors who were in front-end. They talked to them and went to new companies.

Now I am seeing that seniors who are specific to front-end, those with 8–10 years of experience in front-end, are doing well. When they are doing it, I think we can also go to them and get an experience of 8–10 years in front-end. So, our audience is very excited to know the roadmap to becoming a front-end engineer.

But before that, we have a flash round. Basically, I will ask you a question, and you have to answer it in 1–2 sentences. The first question is: Are certificates necessary or a waste?

I don't think certificates are necessary now. No recruiter asks you to show certificates. Even if you show them, the person in front of you is not interested in that certificate.

I haven’t felt the need for them yet. So, I don’t think certificates are important now. Can a non-CSE person break into front-end development?

Yes, easily. I have seen people in my team who are not from a CSE background. They are from some other branch, and they are doing their job well.

The most important thing is skills. If you have skills, you can do it. I don’t think your branch makes any difference.

If someone wants to become a full-stack developer or a front-end developer, can they skip DSA? They can do it, but they shouldn’t. If you have three doors open, you can go through any one of them.

If you don’t do DSA, you are closing one door for yourself. At the start of your career, you shouldn’t close doors. There are many people who want to enter through that door.

So, it’s better to keep as many doors open as possible. But it’s not like if you don’t do DSA, you can’t become a front-end developer. It’s not like that.

Are there any startups that don’t ask for DSA? Yes, there are a lot of companies that don’t ask for DSA. But if some do ask, then both DSA and front-end skills are important.

Personal project vs freelancing? I’ll say go for freelancing first. If you get freelancing, it’s a good thing.

But not everyone can get freelancing. In that case, you can go for a personal project. But freelancing should be your first choice.

Should a person focus on one framework or master multiple frameworks? I guess if you are at the start of your career, you should focus on one framework and gain expertise in it. It takes a lot of time to gain expertise—it’s not something you can achieve in a month or two.

Frameworks have a lot of depth. For now, focus on mastering one framework. One good thing about front-end is that the basics are almost the same as JavaScript.

If you know JavaScript, then the framework doesn’t matter that much. Companies hire you for frameworks like Vue, even if you know React, because they know that JavaScript is the foundation. If you know JavaScript, you can switch from one framework to another.

If someone doesn’t have an entry year in front-end, how much time will it take to learn the basics? I’d say if someone starts today and works consistently, three to four months are enough to cover the basics. During this time, you can learn your fundamentals, build two projects, and understand how things work.

Once you complete this, you can apply for internships on many platforms. I’m not saying you’ll get an internship at a big company right away, but you’ll get something to start with. My first internship was also very small, and I used to earn ₹5,000–₹6,000 from it.

How much you're earning monthly? Now, I earn this amount in 2 hours. You must have earning 5-6 lakhs per month, right?

Yes, absolutely as my package is 1. 3 Crore. What is the roadmap for becoming a front-end developer for beginners?

First, start with HTML and CSS. Build a strong foundation because there aren’t too many things in HTML and CSS, so you can cover the basics quickly. Don’t skip anything because once you move to JavaScript, you won’t revisit HTML and CSS.

After mastering HTML and CSS, focus on JavaScript, which is vast and requires a lot of time and effort. Once you are comfortable with JavaScript, pick a framework you like, such as React, Vue, or Angular. In my case, I chose React.

Sometimes there is confusion about whether to study in-depth or start building projects early on. I recommend studying in-depth. If you know something in-depth, you can explain it to the interviewer confidently, and they will appreciate it.

Good companies ask in-depth questions, so it’s better to take your time and build a strong understanding. Now, regarding the timeline, how much time should you give to each topic? It depends on the individual.

Some might grasp HTML in a day, while others may take ten days. So, giving a timeline can be a bit problematic. However, you can set an upper bound for yourself—you don’t have to exceed that limit.

For example, with JavaScript, I can’t give an upper bound. Suppose I say 10 days, or even 1 month; JavaScript can never be fully covered, not even in 2 years. That’s how vast it is.

The key is to spend as much time as you need to feel confident before moving to the next step. Don’t listen to others who say HTML should be covered in half a day or 2 days. Take your time and learn at your own pace.

Once you’ve given it time, it’s better to fully grasp the concepts rather than rushing through them. The next question is about the numerous resources available on the internet. You can learn from countless places, but does that make online courses valuable?

Yes, because you’re learning from somewhere, and these courses provide a structure. You can teach yourself, but courses help you gain knowledge in an organized way. There are both free and paid courses.

Assess your situation and decide accordingly. There are free resources like YouTube, online searches, Medium articles, and even platforms like Udemy that offer both free and paid courses. If you’re just starting, taking a course is highly beneficial.

You need direction, and a course provides that by laying out what to study first, such as HTML, CSS, and then JavaScript. Without this structure, you might jump straight to React without covering the basics. That’s why courses are essential in the early stages of your career.

Did I pay you to say this? No, not at all. So, did you take courses, or did you learn everything yourself?

I took courses. How could I do it all by myself? Initially, I didn’t know what to study or where to begin.

Courses provided me with that guidance. Now that I have experience, I know what to focus on, but when I was starting, courses were indispensable. In resumes, people often list clones like Twitter or Netflix.

Do clone projects hold any value on a resume , or are they simply ignored? These days, if you have a good project, showcase that instead. If you don't have a better project, you'll have to show what you have.

If you don’t have any other project, you’ll need to showcase this one. If you do have something good, then show it. However, this has become very common now.

If you're looking for something different, try creating a small plugin, extension, or library. Try something unique like that. This would be a new and different approach.

Since most people are making clones when they watch YouTube videos, doing something different could make your work stand out. Okay, what mistakes do beginners make when learning front-end? I feel that they tend to miss the basics.

They think they can quickly jump to frameworks. For example, they may complete HTML and CSS in a week and then move straight to React. I feel like people often overlook the importance of thoroughly learning the basics before jumping into frameworks.

Okay, let’s talk about resumes and portfolios. How should they be made? Is it beneficial to have a portfolio?

Is it good to have an online website to showcase your projects? However, a resume is mandatory. A portfolio is optional, but a resume is mandatory.

You can apply anywhere with your resume. It should include your best projects. A portfolio, however, provides an additional advantage.

It gives you extra marks. For example, when my last company was hiring, we decided to consider the portfolios of candidates. Those with portfolios had clearly worked extra hard compared to others.

While other resumes may be good, we gave extra marks to candidates with portfolios, as it showed they put in more effort. We shortlisted resumes in such a way that if the portfolio section was empty, we would not prioritize them. With 5000-6000 resumes to go through, we couldn’t look at all of them.

Okay, let me ask you some questions. How do you feel about being in Dubai? It’s good.

It’s still new to me, though. I haven’t spent much time here—it’s only been almost a month. Where have you been?

I haven’t had the chance to explore much because I haven't got my salary yet. How expensive is it? It’s quite expensive.

All the hotels are open, and the costs are high. As for now, company is covering all the expenses. How did you manage to secure an international offer?

It was a strategy of simply applying to various companies. I didn’t specifically aim for an international offer. I was just applying.

Regarding ByteDance, it was like this: ByteDance is banned in India, and TikTok is no longer accessible there. They have a center in China, but their main website was blocked. However, LinkedIn still works, and when I applied, it redirected me to ByteDance’s page.

When I clicked on apply, it took me to the application page. There were some recruiters assigned to these openings, and I noticed them. I sent connection requests to these recruiters along with a template message.

Fortunately, they were hiring in Dubai, and the recruiters responded. This helped me get noticed. Having the required skills is essential for securing an interview call, but getting the call itself is a big step.

Fortunately, I got that call, and I went through 3-4 rounds of interviews. What are the differences between hiring in India and abroad? In my experience, the process is quite similar.

The first round focused mainly on JavaScript and problem-solving. The second round assessed hands-on experience, where you need to demonstrate speed and provide detailed explanations. The third round involved system design questions.

The hiring pattern in India is also similar, with a focus on JavaScript theory in the first round, followed by problem-solving tasks. The third round was React-focused, where you were expected to build something in an hour. The fourth round was system design.

What’s your strategy for your resume? How do you reach out to recruiters? I maintain a list of companies, organizing them into tabs.

For each company, I keep track of the hiring managers and recruiters. My first step is to reach out to recruiters. For instance, if I want to contact a Walmart recruiter, I go to their LinkedIn profile.

I use the Apollo. io extension, which gives me unlimited email access, including work emails. I save these emails in a Google Sheet.

I created a NodeMailer. I made a NodeMailer to automate the process. I would take the name from a GoogleSheet, and then send it to my Gmail account.

To do this, I needed to share my Google credentials. Once that’s set up, I can send the emails. I collected 5-6 emails in total.

I made sure I had a collection of emails. I would then try sending emails Monday mornings. I repeated this every Monday morning.

This timing was beneficial because people usually log in to their emails on Mondays. I used to send a lot of emails. In fact, I used to mail 100-200 people at a time.

I was using a script, I also manually handled certain parts. It's not like I relied solely on the script. There were times when I had to write specific emails for different people, and I couldn’t use the same script for everyone.

So, I added some manual effort into it. For example, when I had an interview with Uber, I emailed them 17-18 times on the same thread, saying things like, “I’m still waiting for your response. ” Did you get a response?

Yes, after 18 hours, I finally heard back. It had been quite a long wait, but I knew they were hiring someone. They didn’t say “thank you for joining Uber as a front-end developer” or any other formal acknowledgment.

I figured out that they were at least reviewing my front-end experience, even though they were hiring others but not me. Yes, I kept sending emails. Finally, they responded.

You have to stay very active in your job search. I had a lot of time to apply, so I made sure to keep applying. How much time did you dedicate?

I used to give 1-2 hours every day to apply for jobs. I would send the emails in the morning before starting my office work. Did you set up a bot for this?

No, I didn’t set up a bot. Instead, I had to wake up at 10 am and start the script manually. The reason is that you can’t send all the emails in just 10 seconds, or Google will ban your account.

There used to be a time when you could send emails with an interval of 90-620 seconds. Give me the script for it. So that our people can use this script, please share it along with your resume if possible.

Just remember to hide any personal details. It will be very helpful. Now, the emails you were sending, did they include your resume?

Yes, of course. And one more thing, I used to keep my resume as a link. I didn’t attach it directly.

This way, I didn't need to attach any documents. It may seem like it only saved 10-15 seconds, but over 100 emails, that’s a huge time saver—around 1500 seconds. This is how an engineer thinks.

Nice strategy. I hadn’t even considered that. Though I’m not applying this myself, it’s a very good strategy.

If you're not active during that time, at least you’re making the best of it. By the way, as you said, you need to run the script. There's a solution for that too.

You can host this script and put a timer on it, rather than using a pub/sub job. For example, you can set the job to trigger at 9 AM and the script will run automatically. But I think you’d need an internet connection for that.

You could host it on the cloud, but it will cost some money. Yes, that’s true. But at 10 AM, I’d just need to click and press enter.

I wouldn't have to do anything else. Nice. How is your day typically spent working here in Dubai?

These days, I’m working in the office here in Dubai. It’s a little different from India, though. The work culture here is very strict.

It's 9 AM, and I’m heading to the office at 9:30 because it’s my first week. The office is already full by then. It’s not like in India where there might still be a few empty seats.

Everyone is in the office at 9:30 AM. Another difference is that no one talks much here like they only talk in meetings. If they need to discuss something, they go to a meeting.

It’s not like in India where there’s a lot of chit-chat. Chinese companies are generally more professional. Their working schedule is much tougher than in India and Dubai, so the employees are happy with this schedule.

How many hours do you work here? It’s from 9 AM to 6 PM here, with a 1-hour lunch break. But some people don’t even take a full hour for lunch.

After eating, they go back to work. They are very disciplined here. You must be interested in playing table tennis, right?

I’m actually a big fan of football. I used to play a lot in my old office. Whenever you had a break, you’d play football.

Isn’t it available here? No, not here. Maybe when more Indians come, they’ll bring some of their culture with them, like football.

What about the differences in salary packages? Considering the level you’re at now, you have a 1. 3 crore package.

If you had been in India at the same level, how much would you have been offered at any company? In India, I think, right now, a good company would give you a base salary of around 30-40 lakhs. For a product-based company, if you’re coming as an SDE2, they’ll offer you a base salary of 26-30 lakhs.

It can range up to 35-40 lakhs or even more if you have offers from other companies. Can you go up to 50 lakhs? You can even reach 55 lakhs.

I saw a Leet code compensation for someone at Zepto, and their base salary was 55 lakhs with 2. 5 to 3 years of experience. They had a competing offer and attached it, so Zepto raised the offer to 55 lakhs.

If you have multiple offers, you can negotiate for higher salaries, but you need to have both offers and the right skills to achieve this. Let's add some calculations to understand the package better. You have a 1.

3 crore package. Considering living expenses here, your yearly expenses will be around 24-30 lakhs. So, after expenses, you’ll have around 1 crore remaining.

You don’t need to pay taxes on that 1 crore income. We’ll pay tax this year, but not next year. Once your residency status changes, you won’t be taxed in India anymore.

If you’re earning 50 lakhs in India, and living in a place like Bangalore, 12-13 lakhs would go towards expenses in a year. So, after taxes, you’ll have around 38 lakhs remaining, and from that, you’ll pay around 30% tax. After taxes, you’ll be left with 35 lakhs, out of which 12 lakhs will go towards living expenses.

So, you’ll be left with around 23-25 lakhs. There’s a big difference, which is why you came here. Okay, I wanted to know if there’s a saturation point where your 1.

3 crore salary reaches its limit. What is the maximum salary for a front-end developer? I don’t have much of an idea about the exact number.

I don’t think of front-end developers any differently from other software engineers. I’ve applied to so many companies that I don’t even think front-end developers are paid less. They get paid the same.

It’s a myth that front-end developers earn less. Companies hiring front-end developers are paying competitively, just like other roles. So the software engineer that is earning after 10 years, frontend engineer will also earn the same?

What is the maximum package you have heard of for a software engineer? The maximum salary of a software engineer can vary, but typically, VPs in India earn between 1. 5 to 2 crore per year.

You’ve heard less? I’m not sure if MNC VPs have higher salaries. But from what I’ve heard, some VPs can earn up to 10 crore.

The software engineering field offers a lot of money, but there are fewer higher-level jobs. And fewer people reach those positions. Rapid fire round?

Yes! React, Angular, or Vue? React, any day.

Toughest language to master? JavaScript. First framework you learned?

React. Any other frameworks? React is a library, not a framework.

One thing you hate about front-end development? Animations. Too many animations.

While animations can feel good, too many of them can overwhelm the user experience. What’s the saying? Designer’s dream is a front-end engineer’s nightmare.

It’s accurate, because too many animations can make things complicated. A company you’d like to work for? Meta.

They created React, which is one of the reasons I admire them. Also, they are a great MNC. Would you share or subscribe to Fraz’s channel?

Both! Let’s wrap up. Any advice for developers entering front-end or those already in the field who want to switch?

For those just starting, keep your basics clear. Don’t rush into things. Practice some DSA, but not the hardcore stuff.

It’s better to understand the basics, like array and string questions. When I was transitioning, I was asked about problem-solving methods based on arrays and strings, even if I wasn’t doing hardcore DSA. Don’t get scared when you see DSA-style problems.

It’s really about basic problem solving. You won’t need advanced data structures like graphs, but you should understand basic concepts such as sliding window, two pointers, and operations on arrays and strings. These are commonly asked because they are useful in daily problem solving.

Let’s wrap up. Like the video, subscribe to the channel, and you can follow Vaibhav on LinkedIn. I’ll provide the link and ID in the description.

All the resources we’ve discussed will also be available in the description and telegram group. You can join the group to get more updates. Thank you so much for watching.

See you in the next episode. Thank you, Vaibhav. Thank you.