On April 2nd, 2023, I moved to Pune. Though technically I left home the day i went to college for my engineering degree, this time it was different. I got a job. It's a new city, new people, and a whole new experience. I am on my own now. I was both excited and scared at the same time. I was stepping into the unknown territory of adulthood. A new chapter, a new arc of the story.
But before we begin, let me take you back in time for a moment.
And that’s how I graduated
I graduated in 2021. Yup! I am from the covid batch. I gave my final year exams on a monday afternoon, sitting at home while eating poha made by my mom. I hit submit, closed my laptop, sighed and done. Few months later I got my degree parcelled at home. The last one and half year of college just went like that. Online lectures, mcq exams and making lots of PPTs. And that’s how I graduated.
No goodbyes, no closure, nothing. Wait, not opening those doors today.
Cool! I've been into coding and building things since my third year of college. This was largely due to my activity on Twitter, where I saw people building amazing things. I started learning and found it to be fun. The more I learned, the more I realized how less I know. Because I was actively building and sharing things online, I even landed an internship at a startup in my final year.
Juggling my final year project, exams, and internship all at once was tough, especially when I didn't know much about coding. It's a whole different story, but it didn't take me long to realize that I wasn't very good at it.
Campus placements began, and everyone I knew was getting job offers from either Infosys or Accenture. those were some big names in our college. However, I was already introduced to the world of startups and product-based companies. And I was pulled towards them more. Despite not knowing how, I was certain that I wanted to go in that direction.
A kid in a playground
"But what do I do? How do I get started?" That was a big question. I thought to myself, "Why not keep learning and building stuff while I figure something out?" So that's exactly what I did. I built side projects and iterated on them. I participated in hackathons every other month and even won a few. I started blogging, joined cohorts, joined communities, made open source projects, and what not. I was like a kid left in a playground, jumping and playing with every new thing I saw.
In the process, coverview reached 500+ stars on GitHub, tabwave reached 1000+ installs on chrome and my blog crossed 50k+ views on hashnode. Even though these metrics didn't matter to me, it kind of gave me signals that I was making progress. Little but progress.
Interviews and rejections
Alongside, I kept preparing and applying for jobs every now and then. I was so into it that I didn't even realize a year had passed.
I got interviews with some good companies, but yet I failed to crack them.
I remember my first few interviews and how anxious I was. If the interview was scheduled for 4 PM in the evening, I would do nothing all day except thinking and stressing about it.
Talking to people you don’t know was scary. Solving a coding problem with a time constraint and pressure was daunting. I used to have everything in my mind but couldn’t express it to the other person. Either it was just me or the lockdown had messed up our social skills. I am not sure.
I gave lots of interviews back then. but couldn't clear any. Lots of rejections and I kind of burned out myself. Took me a while to get back on track.
After a few months, I reached a point where I scheduled interviews first thing in the morning. I became more comfortable in interviews, to the point where I couldn't believe I was the same person who used to sit ready hours before the interview. I ate rejections for breakfast. And with each rejection i was getting better. I was making new mistakes, I was learning something new. I remember a time when I kept applying but didn't even receive a reply. so even getting a rejection email was a win-win for me.
A new chapter
I learned a lot in the process. about me, about interviews and about handling rejections. All you need is a one yes.
And i finally got it.
I joined Peerlist as a Frontend engineer. I got my first full-time job. I have been using Peerlist for a long time and being able to be a part of something like that is what I am grateful for.
Last week I completed 3 months at Peerlist. And it has been a hell of a ride. Lots of struggle and lots of learning happened in past few months. So stay tuned to read more about this whole experience in the next issue.
See you in the next chapter!
this blog is so well written!
loved reading it, sweet story :'))
Congratulations Rutik!✨🚀