For most employees, the appraisal season is the most anticipated time of the year — when months of effort finally translate into a well-earned salary hike. But for one software engineer, that wait lasted just four months.
Sharing their story on Reddit’s r/DevelopersIndia community, the IT professional revealed how they received an unexpected raise just a few months after joining a mid-sized product-based company, a post that quickly drew admiration for the firm’s culture.
Titled “Received a hike within 4 months of joining new company,” the Reddit post explained that the engineer had already secured a massive pay jump when switching jobs, and then got another bump soon after.
“CTC: 32 LPA after the hike. Was 31 LPA before,” the user wrote, mentioning that they had 7.2 years of experience. “I joined my current company around four months back. It’s a mid-sized PBC and fully remote. It’s my first product-based company, and when I joined, I received a 100% hike. They even offered more than I asked for.” PBC refers to a Public Benefit Corporation.
The employee admitted that the latest hike came as a total surprise. “It’s appraisal time at the company right now, and my manager suddenly reached out to inform me that I’ll be receiving a hike despite not being officially eligible. I don’t know if it’s market correction or what (in this economy?), but hey, I’m not going to question it because who knows when my luck will run out,” they said.
They went on to share how the experience had changed their outlook on work: “After years of working with service-based companies, I finally feel satisfied with my career. Can’t reveal the company name, but it’s in the federated identity/cloud directory space.”
The post sparked plenty of discussion among Redditors. Many pointed out that such quick appraisals aren’t unheard of. One user noted, “Most decent big companies do a round of appraisals every quarter so that people who join like 5 months before the cycle don’t have to wait for a year and a half for the hike.”
Another added, “Not uncommon. Good startups do that often. We give hike every 3/4 months. But our work culture is quite hard as well.”
A third chimed in with a similar experience: “I have worked for company like this, I joined company already with decent hike and then in 5 months they gave me 16% hike, it was crazy to imagine.”
Meanwhile, newer professionals were curious about what this meant for their own career paths. “So with seven years of experience, one can get around 15 LPA in an SBC (Service-Based Company)? Just asking — I’m a fresher about to join one,” a user commented.