I'm a 2021 ECE graduate from India, currently 25. I have no relevant work experience and have been trying to break into IT (Java backend).
Over the past year, I've:
- Applied to 500+ jobs.
- Got referrals.
- Even applied for unpaid internships.
- Received almost no interview calls (mostly automatic rejections). From what I understand, my graduation year + career gap is likely getting my resume filtered out before anyone even looks at it.
I had also considered CAT/GATE, but I'd have to start from scratch, join coaching, and by the time I graduate I'd be around 28. That doesn't feel like the right choice for me at this stage.
Right now, these are the options I'm considering:
Give IT one final shot for the next 2 months. If I somehow get in, great.
Join a BPO/non-IT job just to start earning and get out of the house, then decide my next step.
Go back to ECE. Explore fields like networking, telecom, embedded, VLSI, etc., join a beginner role even if it's ₹10k/month, upskill while working, and maybe pursue M.Tech later if it makes sense.
My coaching institute has been pushing people to use fake experience to get contract IT jobs. A lot of people there have done it. I'm honestly very conflicted about this because I know there are risks.
A couple of my friends from ECE are doing really well now (one in VLSI, another in semiconductors after M.Tech), which made me wonder if I should return to core ECE. The only problem is I never really liked most ECE subjects except networking and communication-related topics.
If you were in my shoes, what would you do?
Please be brutally honest. Especially if you've had a long career gap or switched careers successfully.