My First Gig as a Software Engineer
I still remember it clearly. After applying to around 500+ job postings on platforms like LinkedIn, Wellfound and Internshala, I could not land even one decent interview. It is a classic trap when you start your career: every internship requires experience, but you need an internship to get that experience. I was still studying at the time. While I stayed very active in college, learning React, Node.js, and full stack development by contributing to our annual fest website, it was not corporate experience. So, I kept getting rejected. But I kept trying.
1. Catching Fish in the Right Waters
One fine day, I came across a LinkedIn post featuring a British college student pitching his startup idea to a panel of judges. At the end of his pitch, an investor asked him a crucial question: “If you get selected, what will you do with our money?” He replied, “I would hire a software engineer to build an MVP in the next six months.”
You guessed it, this was my cue. I needed to reach out to him.
In the thank you slide of his pitch deck, he had included his Discord username. I figured my chances of actually reaching him there were much higher than a crowded email inbox. While sliding into a founder’s direct messages might seem annoying to some, I did not just ask for a job. I drafted a thoughtful message outlining my ideas for the product and exactly what I could build for him in those six months.
Takeaway: In hiring, always look for channels with less competition. Fewer applications mean higher chances of landing an interview. Passing the interview takes skill and sometimes luck, but just getting the interview is often the hardest part of the entire process.
2. Know Your Gear Inside Out
I still remember hitting send. It was 2 AM in India, and I thought to myself, what could go wrong? I was already emailing countless companies and getting ignored anyway, so I took a chance on this one.
Bingo. I got a reply in ten minutes.
He praised me for reaching out directly on Discord and was highly impressed by my understanding of his product. He dropped his Calendly link, and we scheduled a call for the very next day. I immediately went into overdrive, learning everything I could about him and his idea. I even sketched out basic architecture diagrams for user flows like login and image uploading.
When we met, I expected a grueling coding interview, but it was not like that. He asked about my motivation, my tech stack, and what I was comfortable building. I was so desperate for experience that I offered to do the gig for free. He smiled and said no, legally he had to pay me, but he appreciated the hustle.
The biggest differentiator during that call was not my code. It was that I had done my homework. Even without professional experience, I demonstrated my past work on the college website and spoke confidently about UI, marketing, tracking user analytics, and improving page load speeds.
Takeaway: It is impossible for anyone to completely judge a candidate’s technical skills in a one hour call. Companies are not just looking for someone who can code; they need a problem solver. They want someone who takes ownership, asks questions about the business, and comes prepared.
3. Reeling It In and Facing the Deep Water
I got the gig as an independent contractor, and it completely changed my college experience. I would attend classes in the morning, and right after lunch, I would take my laptop to the library to work on my tasks.
More often than not, I had no idea how to do what was asked of me. But with heavy Googling, searching for syntax, and a lot of trial and error, I managed to build features up to a level where they could go live. We met once a week and communicated asynchronously on Slack, and the system actually took off. The founder was incredibly flexible. Whenever I had college exams or fell behind due to assignments, he was understanding and humble.
By the end of my six month contract, my confidence had skyrocketed. I was finally out of tutorial hell and building systems that made a real world difference. Although the pay was modest, around one hundred dollars per month, it was essentially a funded college project at that early stage, and the experience was priceless. That was how I took my first real step into the professional world of software engineering.
As I entered my final year, I realized I needed to shift my focus toward securing a full time post grad job. I politely resigned, and we parted on great terms. They even told me that if they ever needed me in the future, or if I ever needed a reference, I just had to let them know.
4. The Catch That Kept on Giving
Here is the funny part of the story. Two years later, I found myself transitioning away from Indian companies and looking for opportunities with international organizations. During that bridge phase, I needed something to help pay the bills while I searched for the perfect role.
I decided to reach out to the same founder again.
Because we had parted ways so gracefully, he welcomed me back with open arms. Only this time, things were very different. I was no longer the inexperienced college student working for pocket change. I came back to a much larger operation, receiving full time pay and working alongside a five person team to scale the product.
Takeaway: How you end a professional relationship is just as important, and at times more important, than how you start it. My honesty and openness throughout our time working together helped us build a genuine relationship rather than a strict employee boss dynamic. Even today, we still reach out to each other regularly just to discuss product ideas and catch up on how things are going.