About Career Reality

We document how Indian careers actually work after the optimism slides are over.

Career Reality exists because most career advice on the internet sounds like this: "Follow your passion, stay positive, network harder, and success will eventually happen."

Sometimes that works. Usually, people hit a quieter reality: pay stalls, scope narrows, skills age, and everyone is still told to "just keep grinding." We write for that reality.

What We Actually Do

Track salary and market pressure with practical context.
Publish role-level trade-offs across engineering, product, design, data, and marketing.
Map risk signals (switching friction, layoffs, compensation compression).
Update old articles when conditions change, not when algorithms demand "fresh content".

Who This Is For

This publication is built for people inside the system, not outside commentary about the system.

Working professionals who have seen at least one plan fail in real life.
Mid-career operators trying to make fewer expensive mistakes.
Anyone suspicious of salary screenshots as a business model.

Who This Is Not For

Shortcut seekers looking for guaranteed outcomes.
People who want universal formulas that work in every city, role, and cycle.
Readers who only want reassuring conclusions.

We are not anti-ambition. We are anti-fiction dressed as strategy.

How We Write

Human-led editorial judgment.
Evidence-backed claims with visible sources and check dates.
Section-level frameworks: expectation, reality, stuck points, and decision filters.
Correction workflow for factual errors.

AI may assist with language cleanup or verification support. AI does not define viewpoints, conclusions, or editorial standards.

Independence

We designed revenue to avoid editorial capture. See Revenue Model and Sponsorship Policy for constraints.

No paid praise.
No stealth affiliate agendas hidden as advice.
No "we reviewed this because someone asked nicely" policy.

Scope

We focus on India because local market mechanics matter: compensation structures, notice periods, labor supply, and city-level cost pressure. Generic global advice often sounds elegant and performs badly.

Editorial Promise

If a piece feels uncomfortable, it should still be useful. If a piece feels optimistic, it should still be defensible. If a piece goes wrong, we correct it.