Placed at Infosys SP from CGC — the realistic picture of what 9.5 LPA means

I got the Infosys SP (Systems Engineer - Power Programmer) offer at 9.5 LPA from CGC Landran in the March 2026 drive. Before anyone DMs me asking how, let me first explain what that number actually means — because there's a lot of confusion about CTCs vs in-hand.

The 9.5 LPA CTC breakdown: Basic salary ~4.8 LPA, HRA ~2.4 LPA, Special allowance ~1.5 LPA, PF ~0.5 LPA, variable ~0.3 LPA. In-hand per month: ₹52,000–58,000 after deductions. Not ₹79,000/month as dividing 9.5 by 12 would suggest.

How I prepared: The Infosys SP selection criteria is CGPA ≥ 7.5 and performance in the InfyTQ assessment. I did LeetCode regularly from 5th semester onwards — around 80 mediums total, focused on arrays, trees, and DP.

The interview was 35 minutes: 15 minutes on a DP problem (coin change variation), 10 minutes on system design basics (I described a URL shortener at a high level), 10 minutes on my internship project.

If you're targeting SP: start LeetCode in 5th semester. Don't wait for 7th. The earlier you build the habit, the less you have to panic in placement season.