Distressed and unemployed after countless rejections, how Hrishabh Dubey went on to become a Software Developer

“It is really a miracle that I am now working full-time as a Software Developer now.”

~ Hrishabh Dubey, SDE at Bengaluru-based DusMinute.

Hrishabh’s attempts to become a software developer had not been kind or easy. The Masai School alumnus even had to go through having to use antidepressants at one time. He was rejected thrice at Cognizant, twice at Infosys, thrice at Tata Consultancy Services, twice at Amdocs and once at KPIT technologies.

Born in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, 24-year-old Hrishabh Dubey was just like any other student. Normal and average, as he puts it. But at the same time, he was also ambitious enough to become the top ranker in his school.

Not having any clue about what he wanted to become specifically, he admits that he had the deep desire to achieve something out of his life. Becoming an engineer came close to that desire. He chose Physics, Chemistry and Math in his high school and even went on to prepare for IIT-JEE.

For many years, he had been seeking career advice from friends, family and relatives, enquiring about what he could possibly do after school. Hrishabh was even an active participant at the local career fairs.

He found the JEE coaching extremely hard, given the long hours he had to put to crack the entrance examination. At one point, he even contemplated dropping out of his 11th grade. At the same time, he was also trying to push himself harder to not give up just yet. With a lot of his father’s money involved in his education, Hrishabh thought he owed it to himself and his family that he worked harder. After his 12th, the situation was such that Hrishabh could not even crack the regional engineering institutions in Madhya Pradesh.

“Do not ever give up. Keep moving forward and only forward,” was what his father often tells Hrishabh even to this day. He took an extra year after his 12th to further prepare for the competitive entrance examinations to engineering colleges. In the end, he was able to get a seat in SRM University, Chennai.

There was no guidance, awareness and knowledge of what life could probably look like, after engineering. Upon being told by the advisors that more campus placements would arrive if he chose Electronics and Communications, Hrishabh went ahead and chose the same as his field of engineering.

By mid 2019, he graduated from the institution and attempted at numerous campus placements, but of no luck. Hrishabh could not land even a single job offer towards the end. He adds that the situation at his home was such that around Rs 15 lakh was already spent on his education, but all in vain. This was when ‘the struggle phase’ started for Hrishabh, as he calls it. He goes on to add that this is also when people find plenty of free time on their hands.

Watch Hrishabh describe his journey in this video-

Enter Masai School

“I moved to Bengaluru, wanting to try my luck in the IT industry. I applied at many companies, trying to become a software engineer. My engineering education was so expensive that I did not have enough money to manage my basic expenses during this time.”

Hrishabh says it was bad enough that he did not even want to ask his parents for pocket money. He would spend many nights without a wink, and sometimes with teary eyes.

One morning, he came across Masai School on his Google feed. Hrishabh was immediately impressed, also confused, with the line that read ‘Zero upfront fee’ (Income Share Agreement). His mindset at the time was such that there would naturally be a selection process if Masai was promising that there would not be any upfront costs. And that he would fail in this step without a doubt.

Though he calls it luck, Hrishabh was able to crack the entrance test. With no obligation to pay any fee, he felt he had nothing to lose and went ahead and joined the course.

As he recalls, it was all about diverting his mind from the fact that he was still not employed and he was running out of money. So, the rigorous 9am to 9pm training at Masai posed only as a diversion, and he was just happy that he was not free and unemployed at the least.

Though it was hard initially, he says he was emphatic to have gotten used to the entire curriculum and the timings, and the level of discipline he was able to develop. Hrishabh says he really enjoyed his time at Masai, because of how it moulded him into a productive learner.

Taking the Full-Stack Web Development course, Hrishabh started with GIT, and went to learn HTML, CSS, Javascript, React, Python, Flask & SQL for Database.

“Being honest and truthful to yourself, and the ability to follow instructions are some really important traits of a developer. You can’t call yourself a developer if you cannot follow instructions.”

Having given 6 months of hard work and time into Masai School, Hrishabh still faced rejections after graduation. During the time of interviews, Hrishabh recalls that he had to take antidepressants without any description, to cope with rejections and the pressure at the time. Cofounders Prateek and Yogesh, SVP Ankur were in numerous conversations with Hrishabh, helping him regain confidence and some inner strength.

But 2 weeks after graduating from Masai School, Hrishabh was preparing himself for another interview with Bengaluru-based Dus Minute. By then, Ankur was closely monitoring Hrishabh’s interview feedback after every interview he had given. Patterns were pinpointed and necessary countermeasures were deployed for the same.

The goal was to get Hrishabh surpass the technical round and the HR round, for which he needed to fight his fear of speaking up. Besides, there was already the fear of rejection that compounded over a period of time.

“In my mind, I was expecting the same amount of money the usual service-based companies like Cognizant, Concentrix would offer. But it was really a moment where I gathered courage to combine all the mentorship and learnings Masai team had been offering me for more than 6 months. It was really a pleasant surprise that I was able to crack the interview and was offered 100 percent more than what these service-based tech companies would offer me.”

He goes on to add that his CEO at DusMinute once mentioned that the organisation has been harsh enough to freshers, in terms of keeping up with the tight deadlines. But he also mentioned that Hrishabh was one of those freshers who has outdone himself over a period of time.

Hrishabh expresses his gratitude for all the support he had received from the staff at Masai School, considering how much he was able to level up his communication skills. He also mentions that he was not able to crack any job interviews in the past because of the same reason. Calling it a life skill, he says it also what got him a coveted job as a software developer now.

It has been a little more than a year since Hrishabh has started working as an SDE at the startup.