From JEE Advanced to Software Engineer: My Journey

In 2020, I scored AIR 11870 in JEE Advanced (Top 1%). In 2025, I joined TCS as a Software Engineer. Here’s the journey between those two milestones.

The JEE Years (2018-2020)

Two years of rigorous preparation taught me discipline and problem-solving — skills that serve me every day as an engineer.

College at AKTU (2020-2024)

B.Tech in Computer Science. College Topper (Rank 1) with CGPA 8.81. But the real education happened outside the classroom:

• 2021: Built my first full-stack app
• 2022: Started contributing to open source
• 2023: Joined QRsay.com as a Full Stack Developer
• 2024: Built NexusAI, TubeDigest, and Oriz

The QRsay Chapter (Jul 2023 – May 2025)

Working at QRsay.com taught me:

• How to ship fast in production
• Real-world database optimization
• Client communication
• Code review culture

Joining TCS (Jun 2025)

The jump to enterprise-scale systems was eye-opening. Suddenly, my code served millions of users.

Advice for Students

1. Build projects, not just grades — My GitHub profile landed me more opportunities than my GPA
2. Learn distributed systems — Every company needs them
3. Open source is your resume — Contribute early and often
4. Don’t chase brands, chase problems — The best learning happens when you solve real problems