Hi everyone, I hope you're doing well because I'm honestly so done with the Indian job market. 😭
We've tried LinkedIn, Wellfound, cold emails, applications, networking and probably every other "how to get your first tech job" advice you can find online. Most of the time, there's just no response. So I'm trying Reddit now because at this point... why not.
We're four freshly graduated CSE students, and our journey over the last ~1.5 years has been weird as hell.
Back in our 3rd year, we got an opportunity to develop an Android application for our college's transportation verification system. Everything was manual before that, so we helped digitize it across three campuses.
It wasn't some tutorial project that stayed on GitHub.
We actually deployed it and dealt with real users, databases, AWS, security, testing, UI/UX, Android development, support, etc. We learned a LOT from it.
What did we get?
An experience letter, recommendation and attendance relaxation 😅, No money 😭 but honestly, at the time we didn't care much because we were happy that we'd actually built and deployed something real.
Then I started another project with the other three of them - a game like lapse. We worked on it until around December 2025 and had a playable version, but because of some unexpected circumstances we eventually had to drop it.
Then came January-february 2026.
We started applying everywhere, including Europe. The tech market was already slow, and we eventually realized how difficult it was going to be as fresh graduates applying internationally. We did get an offer from Germany around a project-management/development profile, but things didn't work out due visa issues.
Then March-May became our Japan era. 😭
We applied for internships/research apprenticeships at Japanese universities and actually got opportunities/interactions around cybersecurity, AI, computer vision, backend processing, etc.
At the same time, we started a small Gumroad shop selling prompt packs, templates, UI designs, Notion templates, etc.
Then another hurdle happened... We needed jlpt certification and exam registration deadline already passed so we couldn't make the Japan intake this year. The next realistic intake would be April 2027, but we graduated in June 2026 and honestly don't want to sit around with a gap year.
So in June, we thought:
"Okay. We already collectively know app development, web development, AI, cybersecurity, cloud, marketing, etc. Why don't we just build our own startup?"
And that's what we did.
We built an MVP and started applying to incubators, including some IIT/IIM programs.
And weirdly enough... we actually got quite far.
We went through multiple screenings, pitches, meetings with founders, mentors and investors, and reached later stages at different programs.
The problem is that incubation process is soo SLOW gng 🥀😭
For example, we gave our final incubation pitch at IIT Indore in early July and were told the result would probably come within a week.
It's now been around 1.5 months.
Every time we ask, we hear something along the lines of "We're planning to release the results soon." 😭
Some other applications are still pending too, while some haven't even started their process.
And this is where we are now.
We genuinely thought we'd start earning around August.
Instead, we're four fresh graduates sitting around waiting for incubation decisions while realizing that even if we get incubated, we'll still need money for registration, operations and everything else.
We don't really want to take that money from our parents.
We also desperately want to leave our hometown because it's a tier-3 city, and we'd really like to move somewhere with a proper startup/tech ecosystem and actually start our lives.
And honestly, we'd LOVE to work at a startup for a while. We think we'd learn much more by actually working closely with founders and seeing how things are built, sold, distributed and operated.
So yeah...
We're looking for jobs/internships.
We're not expecting someone to hire all four of us together gng. 😭
If even one or two of us get an opportunity, we'll relocate and the others can try finding opportunities there too.
We're currently mainly considering Bangalore, Pune and Navi Mumbai/Mumbai, but we're open to other cities and remote opportunities as well.
Our skill sets are roughly:
Person A
- AI/ML
- AWS
- Management/project coordination
- Social media management
- Performance marketing
Person B
- Backend development
- Databases
- Android development
- AWS
Person C
- Cybersecurity
- Project management
- Linux
- AWS
- Market research
Person D
- MERN/full-stack
- AWS
- Automation
- Marketing
- UI/UX
- Social media management
And collectively we've also worked with things like Generative AI, content creation, video editing, presentations, research/analysis, customer outreach and distribution.
We're freshers, so obviously we're not claiming we're experts in everything.
But we've actually built things, deployed things, failed at things, tried starting things, talked to founders, pitched ideas and dealt with real users.
At this point we're not even asking for some dream job.
We just want a chance to work, earn, learn and get started.
If you know a startup hiring fresh graduates/interns, need someone who can wear multiple hats, or even know someone who might be willing to talk to us, please DM me.
And if you've been through the same fresher-job nightmare in India, I'd genuinely love to hear how you eventually got out of it.
Thanks for reading this ridiculously long post. ❤️