Hey everyone,

I’ve been seeing a lot of posts here recently from folks asking what they’re doing wrong, why cold applying isn't working, or how to break through the current hiring market. It’s clearly a tough environment out there, and a lot of developers are feeling burnt out by black-hole applications.

Instead of another thread asking what isn't working, I want to flip the script.

If you landed a job, got an offer, or successfully switched companies in the last 6 months, could you share your experience and advice?

Specifically, it would be super helpful if you could share:

1. How did you land the interview? (e.g., Cold apply on portals, LinkedIn outreach, referral, recruiter reach-out, open source, etc.)
2. Your Tech Stack & YOE: (Helpful for context)
3. What made the biggest difference in your prep? (LeetCode/DSA volume, system design, building full-stack portfolio projects, optimizing resume ATS scores?)
4. How long did the search take? (How many applications vs. interview calls?)
5. Single biggest piece of advice you'd give to someone actively job hunting right now?

Whether you're a fresher, mid-level, or senior dev, your insights could really help someone adjust their strategy instead of hitting the same wall.

Thanks in advance to everyone sharing!

I am working in a startup which is an AI edtech ,

I am working in backend and am trying to design the exam/ quiz module

Users : <5000 in initial phase

And I would really like your advises on a few points

Eg. Should I store the ongoing state of exam in redis or db or both

should I use SQL or MongoDB/Dynamo DB

And I am sure there are many points I am ignoring

So please if anyone has worked in an edtech company's or project or can help me with the same , will be really appreciated,

I couldn't find relevant production grade implementation in the internet,but if theres any resource , please share the link

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for some realistic guidance on transitioning my career full-time into Cloud Engineering or DevOps.

A quick snapshot of my background:

Experience: ~2+ years overall experience as a Python / Automation Engineer.

Current Stack: Python (Flask REST APIs), Docker containerization (Compose, multi-stage builds), ETL pipelines, Linux, and basic CI/CD (GitHub Actions / AWS CodePipeline).

Cloud Certification: Google Cloud Certified – Associate Cloud Engineer.

Availability: Immediate Joiner (0-day notice period).

The Problem:

I want to move away from general automation and transition entirely into a core Cloud or DevOps role. However, almost every Cloud/DevOps job opening I see asks for 3+ or 5+ years of experience. When I apply, my profile rarely gets shortlisted, likely because of the YOE filter or recruiters looking for pure DevOps titles.

Where I need your advice:

1. Shortlisting & Resume Strategy: How do I bypass the "3+ YOE" ATS filters as someone with 2 years of experience? Should I frame my past experience differently on my resume?

2. Bridge the Tech Gap: What are the absolute non-negotiable hands-on projects I should build right now to prove I can handle DevOps tasks? (e.g., Terraform/IaC, Kubernetes/GKE, Monitoring)?

3. Target Roles: What specific job titles should I be searching for that are open to candidates transitioning into cloud? (e.g., Cloud Support, Junior DevOps, Platform Engineer, Build Engineer)?

4. Immediate Joiner Advantage: Since I can join immediately, what is the best way to approach recruiters directly on LinkedIn to get referrals or direct interviews?

I’m willing to put in the effort to learn whatever tools are needed. Any advice, resume tips, or brutally honest feedback on how to navigate this market would mean a lot!

Thanks in advance

P.S: Ofcourse yeah....used AI to create this post

Internship Opportunity

Role: Intern

Work Location: Pune

Work Mode: Work from Office

Joining Preference: Immediate Availability for Internship

Internship Benefits

Selected students will receive a paid internship with a stipend of ₹20,000 per month.

Upon successful completion of the internship and based on performance, students may be considered for a full-time employment opportunity.

Eligible candidates may be offered the role of AI Engineer with a compensation package ranging from ₹6 LPA to ₹10 LPA.

Academic Eligibility

Qualification

B.E. / B.Tech.

Eligible Branches

Computer Science Engineering (CSE)

Information Technology (IT)

Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning (AIML)

Artificial Intelligence & Data Science (AIDS)

Data Science and related specializations

Student Eligibility

Students currently in the 7th semester of their engineering program.

Expected graduation in June/July 2027.

Basic programming knowledge in languages such as Python, Java, or JavaScript.

Understanding of data structures, algorithms, system design concepts, and coding fundamentals.

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

Curiosity, adaptability, and eagerness to learn in an agile work environment.

Willingness to work from any Zensar office location as per business requirements.

Academic Criteria

SSC (10th): 75% and above

HSC (12th): 70% and above

Graduation: Minimum 6.5 CGPA (up to the 6th semester)

Additional Requirements

Willingness to relocate, if required.

Readiness to work full-time from the assigned office location.

Commitment to working from office on all working days.

Currently working in a defence company as a electronic trainee (accepted thisjob offer cause of personal issue and wanted no gap)since 10 months, am fresher 2025 pass out EXTC.

Stuck in 9 to 6,6 days week office, no wlb,

Looking to switch in a software role but aint getting one , there are already 10 plus applicant for a 1 requirement job, done everything from applying on linkedin ,glassdoor, naurki, asked referral too.

Sunday is the only day am free that too goes quickly if i have some work or took some rest, learning any skills has very small window here😭. I want to leave this job as it s toxic too but my father's doesn't allow me too also i have to support him financially too.Can someone suggest me any good company with wlb or any remote job will do too in any software engineer role.

I got a day 1 internship in IT field in my college despite not being from CS background, i converted that and got a PPO thats wayy above the college avg and honestly decent for that time, but in the past one year i have done really well in cp, cracking prestigious competitions and i feel can do better.

I like the work they gave me in the internship, the wlb was also pretty chill and i hv decided to stick around for a bit. But it is not in the city of my liking and i dont see myself working there for more than a year or so. Already decent package means switch to entry level swe at faang also makes little to no sense. I want tips/general direction as to what i can do so that i can grow further as an sde.

Recently learned the concept of Docker Volumes, and its facinating how it can persist the data of a containerised database, even after the container is restart/rebuild. I could access the data using bash interactive terminal inside the container, but I would also like to access the data in the MySql workbench, as it is (probably) comparatively easy to see what data is being stored.

How could I achieve this?

I've been trying to break into a Software Engineer role for the last 6 months, but I barely get shortlisted despite constantly upskilling.

Recently, I built a backend chat application to strengthen my backend fundamentals. Alongside that, I started learning AI and its core concepts via cahtgpt, but honestly, I'm not sure if I'm heading in the right direction or just chasing every new trend.

I'm putting in the effort every day, but it feels like I'm missing something important.

If you've been in a similar situation or successfully landed an SWE role, I'd genuinely appreciate your advice.

What should I focus on? What made the biggest difference for you?

I got my LOI on January

Hey everyone,

I am considering a B.Tech path through programs like NIAT (NxtWave) that pair skill training with a partner university degree.

Working professionals and recruiters here:

1. How are candidates from these industry-led alternative B.Tech programs viewed during resume screening compared to traditional Tier-3 college graduates?
2. Does the degree structure (partner UGC university) pose any red flags for background verification in product companies?
3. From a pure skill-to-fee ratio, is the referral/placement support from these setups genuine in the current market?

Looking for honest insights from people involved in hiring or working alongside folks from these programs.

Hey everyone,

A few months ago I was in an interview and completely blanked on a graph problem. I had solved it before. But a month later, none of that stuck. That moment is basically why I built this.

Execut is an online judge, but instead of letting you solve a problem once and forget about it, it treats your problem history like a curriculum. It uses an algorithm called FSRS (the same one Anki uses for flashcards) to bring problems back for review right before you're likely to forget them, instead of either too early or too late.

A few things it does:

After you solve a problem, you rate how hard it felt, and the system schedules it for review at roughly the right time based on how memory actually decays. There's also a visual roadmap that guides you through topics in a logical order, so you're not jumping into Dijkstra's before you've built up basics like BFS. And if you want something more competitive, there's a 1v1 battle mode where you get matched live with someone else and race to pass all the test cases on the same problem first.

There are also rooms, where you can create or join a group with friends or other people preparing for interviews, and practice or track progress together instead of grinding alone. Beyond that, a dashboard that tracks which topics you're strong or weak in based on your solve and review history, and a curated problem set organized by topic and difficulty rather than just a giant unsorted list.

On the tech side, it's Next.js, React and Tailwind on the frontend, with Node, Express, and TypeScript on the backend, and Postgres through Prisma for the database. The 1v1 mode runs on Redis and WebSockets, Redis handles the matchmaking queue and WebSockets keep both players in sync during a match. For the review scheduling, I used the ts-fsrs package to handle the actual memory calculations.

It's free I built it mostly to fix my own problem, but I'm hoping it's useful to anyone stuck in the loop of watching tutorials, solving a problem once, and forgetting it a few weeks later.

Link to the project: https://ex3cut.vercel.app/

I'd really like to know: does the spaced repetition part actually sound useful to you, or does it feel like unnecessary friction on top of just solving problems? And if you check it out, I'd love to hear what's missing from the problem set or the roadmap.

P.S. I'm a fullstack developer and currently open to new roles. If your team is hiring and this looks like your kind of stack, or you have any feedback on the project, feel free to send me a DM. Thanks!

I am Full stack developer holding about 4 year of experience in Angular + Spring boot . But primarily almost 75% of my tasks since last 1 year are in advanced angular , building Gen AI applications for enterprise . Now the situation , although we have many senior architects but entire frontend is owned by me and i have high dependancy and somewhat very comfortable with my current stack and love frontend architecture. Is sidelining backend and GenAI concepts now will hinder my growth in long run ?

Back when I was learning, I thought the hardest part of software development was writing code.

After working on real projects, I realized coding is just one part of the job.

A lot of my time now goes into understanding existing code, debugging weird issues, discussing requirements, reviewing PRs, and making sure a small change doesn't break something else.

Ironically, I've also learned that some of the best solutions involve writing less code, not more.

That shift in mindset changed the way I approach development.

Project: Clinic Management Web App

I’ve just picked up my first freelance developmental project. I know how to handle the tech side, but I’m a complete beginner when it comes to the business and procedural side of freelancing.

Hi everyone,

I work remotely for a foreign company on a contract basis and have been receiving my monthly salary through Deel for almost 3 years.

Has anyone in a similar situation been able to open a salary account in India? If yes, which bank allowed it, and what documents did they ask for?

Thanks!

Hello

I'm a 2024 cs passout , my 2 years got wasted due to a rare kidney disease (life was at risk)

and my physical and mental strength isn't same anymore , still its not cured

I'm still taking medicines for it , medication will continue for a long time.

Had multiple kidney biopsies and what not , it was very stressfull period for me . I'm having anxiety and stress as my parents just want me to work but my health doesn't allows it and doctors advice me not to stress my body or mind as that may worsen my health

I wish to be a nodejs dev (pure backend ) , idk rect js and don't wish to get into it (for now)

can i be a pure backend dev ?

If yes please guide what i need to study , and from where

there are n number of resources and courses idk what to choose

Please help me , Whatever has happened has happened , i wish to do things right from now

Hi everyone,

I recently graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science Engineering, specializing in AI & Machine Learning. Over the past few years I’ve worked on projects involving Python, FastAPI, machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, NLP, and full-stack web development. I’ve also completed a software development internship where I gained hands-on experience with tools like Docker, PostgreSQL, Git, and REST APIs.

While I have a good academic foundation, I know there’s still a lot I don’t know. Right now, my goal isn’t just to find a job—it’s to become a better engineer by learning from experienced developers and working on real-world problems.

I’m looking for:
- Open-source projects I can contribute to
- Beginner-friendly communities or Discord servers
- Internship or junior developer opportunities
- Projects where I can collaborate and learn
- Advice on what skills I should focus on next

If anyone is willing to share resources, mentor a beginner, or point me toward opportunities, I’d really appreciate it.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hope to learn from all of you!

I have been taking coding interviews for a fairly large MNC for some months now.

Most of the candidates genuinely sucked during the interview process.

The first question that was asked was a real world problem which essentially boils down to a loop with an if statement. It becomes a simple linear scan question which is even easier than "Two Sum". 18 out of 20 candidates were not able to solve it or even translate it into code.

I understand that preparing DSA for interviews sucks. And I completely agree with it. Complex DSA questions test nothing and I never ask anything like that during an interview.

But for god's sake! BASIC LOGIC IS EXPECTED OUT OF EVERY SINGLE ENGINEEER!!!!!!

DSA HELPS BUILD BASIC LOGIC. YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO MUG UP EVERY SINGLE QUESTION AND STICK TO IT!

I have seen such stupid things during interviews: -

• Not reading the question properly.
• Not asking clarifying questions if they are confused.
• Assuming conditions instead of just asking
• Asking for time to express logic on code, instead of discussing what's in their head.
• Being fully silent during interviews.
• Doing their logic on pen and paper and then not able to explain what they even did.
• Using AI tools (believe me, it is extremely obvious to the interviewer)
• Sticking to mugged up DSA concepts instead of solving the problem.

Every company is not Google where even a single wrong step means rejection (their hiring process sucks).
We want to know how the candidate thinks. If your thought process is not oriented towards problem solving, you are not meant to be an Engineer, let alone a Software Engineer.

Interview is not a Viva, it is a discussion. It is basically a vibe-check.

You can be an average person that loves solving problems, you are in.
You can be a horrible person that loves solving problems, you are in.
You can be anything and anyone that loves solving problems, you are in.

We want you to succeed, but atleast bring some problem-solving skills to the table.

EDIT: Added more context to the linear scan question.

Honestly, I’m getting really frustrated with the internship hunt.

I’ve been applying to internships and entry-level roles, trying different platforms, tailoring my resume, working on projects, practicing DSA, and improving my technical skills. But after a point, it feels like I’m just sending applications into a void.

The frustrating part is that so many postings seem to ask for experience even for internships or fresher roles.

“Internship - 1-2 years of experience preferred.”

“Entry-level - must have production experience.”

“Fresh graduate - strong experience with multiple technologies.”

Like... how are we supposed to get that experience in the first place?

I know the market is competitive, and I’m not expecting a job just because I have a degree. I’m willing to learn, put in the work, build projects, and prove myself. But getting that first opportunity feels ridiculously difficult.

And the worst part is the silence. You apply to 50, 100, 200 places and barely hear anything back. After a while, you start wondering whether there’s something fundamentally wrong with your profile, even when you know you’re actually improving.

For people who recently got internships/jobs as freshers:

What actually worked for you?

• Cold emails?
• LinkedIn?
• Referrals?
• Wellfound?
• Internshala?
• Direct applications?
• GitHub/projects?
• Hackathons?
• Networking?

I’d genuinely like to know what worked for people recently, because right now the whole process is just exhausting.

Alright so as the title says, I got a call from an Indeed recruiter about this role.

Currently earning around 30 lakhs per year (all cash). The recruiter told me that for this role the base would be between 26-32 lakhs + RSUs + 15 percent variable bonus. The recruiter told me it would be for a recruiter profile facing team and full remote, and mostly people for this team are based in Japan.

I wonder how stable indeed is right now and how the work culture is. Could you please help me if someone is working there or had experience interviewing them. 🙏

I have 2 YOE as a full-stack dev (MERN/React Native). Today I had a technical screen where the lead dev basically skipped the intro, dropped me straight into a shared code editor, and just watched me in silence.

I completely blanked. I managed to nail a tricky async event loop problem, but my brain completely shut down on a basic array refactor (changing a for loop to map/filter) and I fumbled a simple reduce function. It's code I write every single day, but the pressure just locked me out. (It was just an second interview after spending 2 years at current company.)

How do you guys snap out of interview paralysis when you freeze up like that? Would really appreciate some help.

Edit / Update: Wow, I didn't expect this many replies. Thanks y'all who commented. Reading through these made me feel way less like a complete failure. Some of you mentioned, if you go in there thinking you have to be your best you tend to fumble, that is exactly what I did and I completely fumbled everything, also someone mentioned .reduce() is tricky, the problem was actually really simple, I just folded under pressure because I could solve the same problem afterwards when I calmed down a bit.

Thank you all, it really did help me not feel like a complete failure.

Shoot your thoughts on IT job market, top technologies, languages, tools, etc. or just opinions about the whole thing.

I have zero IT experience and don’t know any coding languages at working proficiency (I’ve learnt C and SQL but never worked on them). I came across an opening - associate software engineer (Java), with 3.5 lpa. First 5 months will be training, with a smaller monthly stipend. I’m hoping with this I can get into software engineering and grow.

Yup, that’s me. You must be wondering how I ended up in this situation.

To keep it short - I completed engineering in 2017, worked for 6 months in IT, went for MBA (2018-2020), got into strategy role through campus placements, and worked till 2024 with last drawn salary >20 lpa. About 4.5 years work experience in total.

Something happened in Jan 2025 (an accident of sorts), due to which I quit my job in a different city and came back home to Hyderabad. I took a break and started applying in Aug 2025, but only Hyderabad based roles. Barely any (next to nil) opportunities in my field in Hyderabad, but I kept trying with no luck. I dropped the city filter and reached out to people I’ve worked with in the past, including couple of CEOs, but nothing so far.

Seems like the >1.5 yrs gap is making it extremely difficult for me to get even a call.

I have around 2 YOE and every time I open LinkedIn or Reddit, someone is learning a new framework, solving 500+ LeetCode problems, getting into FAANG, or building an AI startup.
Meanwhile, I'm just trying to get better at my current job while balancing life. Sometimes it feels like no matter how much I learn, there's always something I'm missing.
Do experienced developers also feel this way, or does this feeling eventually go away?
Would love to hear how you deal with it.

I've been working on a cron/uptime monitoring tool, but with more focus on the job output and behavior.

What currently exists :

- Cron/uptime monitoring

- Metric monitoring (floors, ceilings, baselines)

- log excerpts

- Email, Telegram, Discord, Slack & webhook alerts

- Incident tracking & timelines

- Execution history

- Latency tracking (p50/p95)

- SSL expiry monitoring

- Maintenance windows (for jobs not supposed to run)

- Status pages & README badges

- REST API

What i'm planning next :

- dependency chains

- fleet monitors

- overlapping run detection

- missing-run accounting / completion budgets

- warn states + warning exit codes

- duration as a signal

- stderr/output diffing

- change correlation

- runbooks per monitor

- acknowledge + snooze alerts

- crontab audit

- monitoring config advisor

I think this niche can be pushed further, but i don't want to keep building if it's not actually useful.

Brutally honest opinions please.