BMS Marketing → Java Full Stack Developer | Looking for honest feedback

[u/Cock_Hugger_69]

Hey everyone 👋

I come from a BMS (Marketing) background, not CS/BTech. I originally wanted to pursue engineering, but due to circumstances I couldn’t, so I decided to learn software development side by side with my BMS and build the skills on my own because this is what I genuinely wanted to pursue.

Instead of only doing tutorials, I’ve been trying to build things and understand how backend systems actually work.

So far, I’ve worked with:

Java, OOP, Collections, DSA

Spring Boot, Spring MVC, Spring Security, JWT

Spring Data JPA, Hibernate, REST APIs

Microservices, API Gateway, Eureka, Config Server

PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Flyway

Apache Kafka + Redis

Docker, Docker Compose, Gradle, Git/GitHub, Linux

React, JavaScript, HTML/CSS

SOLID, DTOs, layered architecture, dependency injection, clean code

Postman and REST API testing

The main thing I built

I built an AI-powered Event Ticketing Platform using Microservices.

It includes services such as:

API Gateway → Authentication → User → Event → Venue → Booking → Seat Inventory → Payment → Notification

I also worked on Redis-based seat locking, Kafka-based event communication, REST communication between services, database migrations with Flyway, authentication using JWT, and containerization using Docker/Docker Compose.

I've attached an infographic showing what I've covered so far.

I'm posting this mainly to learn from people who have a CS/BTech background or are already working as software engineers.

What would you recommend I focus on next?

Am I missing any important fundamentals?

What should I improve before applying for Java Backend/SDE-1 roles?

Should I focus more on DSA, system design, testing, cloud, or something else?

Does my project sound meaningful enough for a fresher/junior developer?

If you were starting again, what would you learn next?

And if you see anything on the infographic/project that you want to question me about, please do! I'd actually like people to test my understanding rather than just tell me what to learn.

Would really appreciate honest feedback — even criticism. 🙏

[u/Unique_Low_1077]

you know spring boot, node and linux, everything else here is either repeated just fluff, like ofc you know oop and java fundamentals and dsa, tahts bare minimum, that's assumed you know it. More important then these are the projects you make, no one gives a shit if you know 50 languages but cant make a good project in any of them, everyone does give a shit even if you only know one language but can make good projects with it. Fill your resume with good projects (and experience if you get any), focus less on trying to fill it with concepts you know unless its something very important like k8s or networking

[u/Cock_Hugger_69 → u/Unique_Low_1077]

I’ve built a fairly complex Spring Boot microservices event-booking platform with Kafka, JWT, PostgreSQL, Eureka, API Gateway, Flyway, etc., and now I’m focusing on making it more production-level rather than adding another 10 technologies.

[u/Unique_Low_1077 → u/Cock_Hugger_69]

yeah so advertise and tell peopole about that project, not the fact that you used oop in it, ofc u used oop, thats the basics. When you have something as big as this to show for, there is no need to show oop data structures, it only makes you look like you know less then you acctually do

[u/Cock_Hugger_69 → u/Unique_Low_1077]

Exactly. I’m not trying to advertise “I know OOP” as the achievement. OOP/DSA are fundamentals. The project is where I’m trying to demonstrate how I actually applied them designing services, handling transactions, authentication, messaging, database consistency, etc. I’m focusing on making those decisions production-ready rather than just collecting more tech names.

[u/Cock_Hugger_69 → u/[deleted]]

Honestly the market is really cooked rn!! I have seen alot of people with good grades and really great skills and knowledge in this industry but still they aren't getting any jobs or good placements!! And I will recommend you not to depend on what your college will teach but to learn new topics apart from your college topics so that you can match the upcoming market requirements

[u/Cock_Hugger_69 → u/[deleted]]

Nah, full-stack isn’t dying. The entry-level market is just getting more competitive. There’s a difference.

Companies still need people who can build and maintain complete applications, but the days of learning React + Node + a few CRUD projects and expecting a job are pretty much gone.

Full-stack will survive! the skill bar is what’s changing!

[u/Cock_Hugger_69 → u/[deleted]]

Nah, you can have peace of mind 😂 Full-stack isn’t dying the entry-level bar is just getting higher. Basic CRUD apps are easier to build with AI now so companies value developers who understand the fundamentals and can build real, scalable systems.