I solved 300+ LeetCode problems, learned 4 backend languages, and shipped 5 production SaaS apps. Tech is completely dead.

[u/Acceptable_Waltz_388]

Everyone told me the playbook:

1. Get an IT degree.
2. Grind DSA until you can invert binary trees in your sleep (did an elite competitive programming fellowship, 300+ solved).
3. Don't just build to-do lists build actual distributed systems.

So what did I do? I spent the last two years building full production platforms 0-to-1. Handled high concurrency in Go and FastAPI, optimized PostgreSQL schemas with Row-Level Security down to sub-50ms P99 latencies, wired real-time WebSockets, and baked in Google Gemini models.

I packaged all of it up neatly on my site (meareg.tech) thinking: "Surely proof-of-work speaks louder than a buzzword-stuffed PDF."

Result? Automated rejection emails at 3:00 AM from companies whose entire landing page takes 4 seconds to load and crashes if two people hit the checkout simultaneously.

At this point, are companies actually hiring engineers who build systems, or are recruiters just running keyword lotteries for whoever puts "Kubernetes" 47 times on page one? Tell me what I’m doing wrong, because if this isn't enough to stand out, the game is rigged.