Life After College: The Unexpected Reality
“… I only want to join product-based companies, not consultancies,” I declared to Prashant and Kinjal during our semester break after the 3rd semester of our MS at NJIT. We were bracing for the onslaught of interviews, and I felt like I was about to face an axe.
Prashant turned to me and said, “Dude, you need to focus on getting a job first. Once you’re in, you can develop your skills and move up. The USCIS’s 90-day unemployment period is a bulldozer coming at you full throttle.”
Kinjal nodded in agreement, adding, “You can’t focus only on product companies.”
They didn’t know that joining startups had been my dream long before I came to the US. I wanted to dive into the tech world, upskill myself, and face the industry with some experience, even if it meant being a learned fool rather than a complete newbie.
The Purpose-Driven Journey
I was one of those people who came to the U.S with the dream of living in the leader of the free world. I’m Indian, and like many from my country, I joined an institution for my master’s degree in computer science. I had an intense first semester filled with parties and enjoyment, but when the second semester began, it became clear that I wasn’t just here for a visit—I was here with a purpose. My goal was to shape my life by working at startups, building my skillset and career, and eventually starting my own venture.
Immersed Learning: The Intensity of Skill-Building
Once I made the decision not to apply for jobs until I had built something, I plunged into a phase of intense learning and self-development. It wasn’t just about picking up a new skill here and there—it became an obsession to master the tools that startups were using. I started with React, almost randomly. There was no strong reason, other than an unexplained dislike for Angular, but soon I realized React was just the beginning.
Courses became my go-to resource. I bought one after another on Udemy, deep-diving into the worlds of JavaScript, class components, and Redux. Before I knew it, I wasn’t just building UI; I was deploying full stack applications to Heroku, connecting them with APIs, and integrating email services. JavaScript quickly became my main language of choice.
This learning period wasn’t just theoretical. I worked on multiple projects, sometimes for myself and sometimes for friends. Helping with their assignments allowed me to dive into the architecture of applications and experiment with real-world problems. I even got into building monorepos, not just as a concept but applying it to actual applications.
My upskilling journey wasn’t a smooth ride—it was relentless. I barely slept, barely ate, but the sense of progress kept me going. I even added AWS solutions and machine learning with Python & R to my toolbox, though I didn’t focus on the enterprise languages like Java or C#. My focus was always on startup technologies—whatever would get me closer to working at a product startup.
The more I learned, the more I applied, and soon I felt ready to step into the job market with a solid portfolio of projects and a growing confidence in my skills.
Early Rejections and a Glimmer of Hope
I applied to every company I could find, armed with what I believed was a strong resume for a fresh graduate. But as responses started coming in, I was met with disappointment—most were rejections. The rejections kept pouring in for months together, I kept my calm. It was a year from when I started my journey with self-learning until I found one company that showed interest.
Gawkbox showed interest. They gave me a take-home project: build a mobile application that runs on both iOS and Android. The app needed to pull live Twitch streams from an API, with the backend API written in Go. Bonus points if I could integrate a database and add extra features. The real challenge? I had to dockerize the entire application, write a Makefile to build and launch both iOS and Android, and run the backend API inside a Docker container. And I only had one week to get it done.
The Go Challenge: Pushing My Limits
Believe me, this was a lot. I had never learned Go — hadn’t even heard of it. While I had done some iOS development in Objective-C and Swift, I had never touched Android. Naturally, I chose React Native for the framework. But I never doubted that I’d finish it. I started with the backend, relying on tutorials and the official website to learn the language. Since I was familiar with C and C++, learning Go was pretty straightforward.
Soon, I was developing APIs, integrating Twitch, and pulling live streams. Then came the mobile app, and I flew through it—it was React, just native. By day three, I had finished what they asked for. I integrated a database, added a login flow, and stored favorite streams. I dove into Docker, learned how it works, and dockerized the application. I wrote a README with instructions on how to run everything, but didn’t manage to write the Makefile—my brain was fried at that point.
I barely slept or ate during that week. My roommates were a godsend, bringing me food and urging me to leave my room, but I wouldn’t budge except for bathroom breaks.
A Lesson in Failure: Missing the Makefile
I submitted the project well before the deadline, only to be rejected again. The reason? They didn’t want to follow the instructions. They only wanted to run the Makefile, which I hadn’t completed. I felt down for the evening, but I picked myself back up. After all, I still had my semester to take care of.
AngelList Success: My First Breakthrough
Shortly after, I interviewed at a startup that became the first company I worked for. Their co-founder and VP of engineering found me through AngelList, looked at my work on GitHub, and asked if I’d be interested in interviewing with them. That moment was the sign I needed—my efforts hadn’t been in vain. During the interview, I showcased the project I’d built in Golang and ran it on my mobile. They assured me I could pick up their tech stack easily, which was React, Ruby, and Postgres.
The Role of Luck and Hard Work
A week later, in the last week of my unemployment period, I received an offer. On the 89th day of my 90-day unemployment period, I joined the company. It wasn’t just my skillset or hard work that saved me—it was pure luck, maybe even divine intervention. When the offer came through, a couple of tears rolled down my face. And just like that, I started building and learning for money.