Nikhil became a Software Developer despite being a college dropout - This is how
Nikhil Gudur, 23, hails from Hyderabad and has spent most of his life with warmth offered by a joint family and good friends. Being an average student in school he wasn’t really interested in studies as he couldn’t conceptualise and understand most things that he would be taught at school.
No matter how disinterested he was in his studies, he always dreamt of becoming a doctor and making his family proud. As a result, he took Biology as his major subject in class 11th and started preparing for medical entrance exams. However, he soon realised the amount of dedication this field required from him and knowing his personal capabilities, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to carry it out sincerely for a long time.
He changed his subjects and now opted for Mathematics as his major — which didn’t do him any good either. Anyhow, he passed his board exams with a bearable score and took admission in Information Technology after school.
During his B.Tech, he couldn’t find the motivation to study and be intrigued about what he was learning and everything seemed to go above his understanding. Moreover, he felt that the curriculum that his college followed was way too old to cater to the modern industrial and job requirements. He decided to leave college altogether and look for options that would help him develop his skills and have a prosperous career. He went through a few online courses and got to know that he could pursue a short term course in coding and work as a Software Developer- which is one of the brightest professions in the world right now.
“I joined a course for a few weeks and started enjoying coding. However, I left it soon after I realised that the course didn’t have a proper structure or curriculum to follow that would help me land myself a decent job. I knew I needed something better and this is how I came across Masai School while looking for more options,” he says.
For him, Masai seemed like the light at the end of a tunnel- unlike other organisations, he wasn’t required to submit a graduation degree to enroll himself here. All he needed was to submit his class 12th passing certificate and dedicate the next 6 months of life. Another aspect that assured him of Masai’s genuine intent was its ISA, which doesn’t require its students to pay the fees for the course unless they land themselves a job of Rs.5 lakhs per annum or more. Without further ado, he appeared for the entrance test and interview and cleared both to become a student at Masai.
It was initially hard for him to get used to the discipline that Masai follows. The 9–9–6 timings that were to be followed 6 days a week required him to dedicate himself fully to the course, something he wasn’t used to before. Seeing other students and the hard work put in by the faculty, he felt so inspired that eventually he let go of his past habits and started enjoying what he was learning here every day. “Not only was I taught a concept in class, but I was also taught how to utilise it with self-understanding. It was a great experience,” he says.
After the completion of the course, Nikhil sat down for the placements and found the process quite smooth. The mentors at Masai supported him throughout the placement period and taught him how to work on filling his gaps. It took him 2.5 weeks after the course ended to get placed as a Front End intern at Paytm Money for 6 months. Post completion, he was offered a full-time job by Paytm but he decided to weigh his options and go for a company that had more scope for him in terms of personal growth. As a result, he switched to Smallcase, a fintech company based in India.
The reason why he took an internship first instead of a job was to gain experience working at a big company. He believes that when you are a college dropout, you tend to feel a little under-confident while working full-time at a big company and it’s better to start slowly rather than jumping the gun and making mistakes you shouldn’t- as a fresher. He wanted the room to make mistakes and learn from them for future purposes.
To people who aspire to become Web Developers in the future, he suggests, “If you are interested in this field, then it is great to be in. There will be tough days when you won’t be able to solve a problem, but it will all be worth it in the end. Masai taught me that your background isn’t relevant, your skills are. If I can do it, anyone who has discipline and self-confidence can do it too!”
