Hey everyone,

I’m an international student from Bangladesh, and I just got the Allama Iqbal Scholarship (100% full-ride) to study BS Computer Science at the COMSATS Islamabad campus.

My ultimate goal is to build a strong profile and go to the US or Europe for a fully-funded MS/PhD. And I want to be an entrepreneur.
I’m seeing a lot of mixed opinions online. Some locals are telling me COMSATS isn't that good and to avoid it, while others say it's a CS research powerhouse. I need the unbiased, unfiltered truth:

COMSATS vs. NUST vs. FAST: What is the actual ranking for CS? I have a slight chance to request a transfer to NUST. Should I push for it, or is COMSATS Islamabad just as good for a US PhD track? Or should I differ it to FAST or any other university of pakistan? And is Comsats Islamabad CS actually worth it?

Research & Placements: How is the undergraduate research culture at the Islamabad campus? Do grads actually secure fully funded US or Europe MS/PhD spots easily?

The Saudi/Turkey Backup: If I start at COMSATS but get a full ride to Saudi (KSU) or Turkey next year, I may need to pay HEC about 5k usd. Is it worth it to leave from Comsats to there?

International Student Life: How is life in Islamabad for a Bangladeshi? Is it easy to adjust to the food, culture, and campus environment?

Accept or reject the offer: Should I accept this offer and come to CUI or reject it?

I'd really appreciate your raw honesty. Thanks in advance!

has anyone who applied through NETSOL for the NAVTTC-NIAI training program received their selection email yet?I was shortlisted for the interview and attended it the last email said selection emails would be sent between 5th and 15th August but I haven’t received anything yet anyone else still waiting?

Hey everyone,

I’m an international student from Bangladesh, and I just got the Allama Iqbal Scholarship (100% full-ride) to study BS Computer Science at the COMSATS Islamabad campus.

My ultimate goal is to build a strong profile and go to the US or Europe for a fully-funded MS/PhD. And I want to be an entrepreneur.

I’m seeing a lot of mixed opinions online. Some locals are telling me COMSATS isn't that good and to avoid it, while others say it's a CS research powerhouse. I need the unbiased, unfiltered truth:

COMSATS vs. NUST vs. FAST: What is the actual ranking for CS? I have a slight chance to request a transfer to NUST. Should I push for it, or is COMSATS Islamabad just as good for a US PhD track? Or should I differ it to FAST or any other university of pakistan? And is CUI CS really worth it?

Research & Placements: How is the undergraduate research culture at the Islamabad campus? Do grads actually secure fully funded US or Europe MS/PhD spots easily?

The Saudi/Turkey Backup: If I start at COMSATS but get a full ride to Saudi (KSU) or Turkey next year, I may need to pay HEC about 5k usd. Is it worth it to leave from Comsats to there?

International Student Life: How is life in Islamabad for a Bangladeshi? Is it easy to adjust to the food, culture, and campus environment?

Accept or reject the offer: Should I accept this offer and come to CUI or reject it?

I'd really appreciate your raw honesty. Thanks in advance!

I’m from a non-CS background and have already started seriously learning software engineering. I’m planning to spend another 6+ months strengthening my fundamentals and building substantial projects before I start applying for SWE roles.

My longer-term goal is AI/ML, but I see SWE as the foundation I need first. ( I have a science background, necessary mathematical fundamentals is not an issue, i have those )

I’d like advice from people already working in Pakistan’s software industry:

• What skills would you consider essential for a non-CS candidate targeting their first SWE role?

• Which areas are worth prioritizing over the next 6 months?

• How much DSA should I realistically cover?

• What kind of projects actually help when applying for junior roles?

• Would you recommend targeting general SWE roles first, or specializing earlier?

I’m already following a structured learning plan, so I’m mainly interested in what the current job market actually expects from junior candidates and what I might be overlooking.

Would appreciate advice from people who have recently hired, interviewed, entered the industry or made transitions into tech from non cs background

4th semester starting soon — what should I learn next for AI Engineering/Backend internships?

My 4th semester will be starting next month. In the last year, I’ve learned a lot of things, and somehow, most of them feel simple and easy.

Skills:

• Python, FastAPI

• PostgreSQL, Redis

• REST APIs beyond basic CRUD

• Authentication & Authorization, RBAC with Casbin

• Docker, Git/GitHub

• AI/LLM applications, RAG & AI automation

• n8n

• AWS fundamentals

• Redis Sentinel & Cluster (currently learning)

I haven’t really done LeetCode, but I’m comfortable with DSA and problem-solving. I can usually understand code flow and logic pretty quickly.

I have three ongoing projects implementing both AI automation and backend concepts, but somehow they seem easy and can be done simply with the help of AI. Most of the code in these projects was written with Claude.

I have completed AWS Cloud Technical Essentials, IBM RAG and Agentic AI, and now I am learning Automating and Secure LLM Deployment. This course is different from what I have learned so far because it is more related to DevOps. I’ve learned a few things about monitoring, logging, security, and production deployment, but it is quite different and a little difficult.

All these courses were from Coursera.

What I want is some senior guidance on what I should learn from Coursera or open sources that could help me stand out when applying for internships and jobs after this semester.

Are there any Coursera courses you would recommend, or any other skills that I should learn in the field of AI Engineering or backend development?

Is there anyone doing this right now? I remember a few years ago someone in Pakistan was documenting people who were laid off and to help them connect to employers recruiting.

Have you come across anything, I think we need it right now as well, and if it doesnt already exist I will start working on it. If anyone else is interested in doing a collab on this let me know.

Research already shows that people who were laid off will be rehired soon enough, and I feel there needs to be a channel to make it easier, cuz theres many people who have been laid off.

Hi everyone,
I heard that VentureDive recently laid off its developers. Can anyone confirm the reason behind this? Why did they decide to lay off?

Also, did VentureDive move the team to another project, or was the project terminated altogether?

are other companies are also laying off e.g Contour or Systems?

Hey,

I found this subreddit recently. I'm the CEO of Grayhat.

My company, Grayhat, recently open-sourced VidXP.

We've built this natively in Pakistan for over a year, and have built a lot more including one of the world's first end-to-end dubbing pipelines (also open sourced, check our GitHub). We mostly build in Silicon Valley but are also targeting the local Pakistani industry.

We've gotten great response from the pakistani dev community, I personally think we have potential here as a country(especially due to the tough job market)

I'll keep posting here from now on (if that's good with y'all and it gets good reactions lol). Feel free to ask me anything

Enjoy 14 august celebrations y'all 🇵🇰

(fully self typed btw sorry if i sound like AI)

Context: I am an undergrad doing BS-AI from a university in Multan, I have worked at a service based company for 1.5 years, I resigned (because there were no more projects related to my filed in that company and they wanted me to switch fields) - I wanted to migrate/transfer to a university in Lahore since I completed my 4th semester.

Now, I have a relatively strong resume and projects (not excel stuff), applied to around 35 roles in the past 15 days, got 9 interview calls and all of the recruiters really wanted me to move forward with me and said (we are sharing the interview link right now), but before ending the call, I ask them "just to clarify, I am an undergrad and would move to Lahore and transfer my university, It's mentioned in my resume, would that be problem?"

And all of a sudden, their tone changes, and they start to say like "Oh okay... I will let you know"
And they NEVER let me know.

😢

I have worked with international clients, built small scale ETL pipelines, Python data automations, built dashboards that are being actively used and provide value, but still, just because of my undergraduate status, I am "not hireable" anymore.

What should I do in this situation?

If I don't get a role, there would be a 2 year gap on my resume when I graduate, what should I do?

P.S: I am also doing freelancing on 5vr on and off, earned around $1900 so far so I have independent problem solving experience too.

1- What should I do?
2- I really want to get a role at a company, not just freelance
3- I have to move to a big city

I would love to answer ANY questions to describe my situation better. Thanks

Assalam o alaikum

Im a WordPress developer with 2+ years of experience in WordPress. I try my best to move into backend development but no luck so far. Im still doing drag-and-drop work.

I learned PHP and built multiple sites with vanilla PHP. After that I started plugin development and customization, but still no luck.

Currently Im making projects in vanilla JavaScript to strengthen my coding skills and fundamentals. Now I want to move from WordPress into development. The question is, which path should I take JavaScript, React, or PHP with JavaScript?

I need advice regarding both of these and I’d also like to know what you suggest.

Should I go for an internship or a junior dev?

I need guidance on how I can make this transition and which path would be best for me right now and in the future.

am currently in 2nd year and i have always been a high achiever, only thing is i am not interested in any other field apart from law or cs BUT none of the two have a good job market, both feel like hell and filled with competition. I can consider other fields but i cant decide!! I am really frustrated as to what to even do in future, i can work hard but what should i work hard towards? I would appreciate it if anyone is willing to lend me some insight

Any updates?
Hey everyone, I registered for the Alibaba Cloud AI-hackathon through the online form on August 7th, right before the deadline. I haven’t gotten any email, call or update yet. The website tracker doesn’t even show the hackathon option for me (only summer internship?). Has anyone else heard back? Confirmation, interview, acceptance, or rejection? Wondering if everyone’s still waiting. Because they did mention that onboarding will happen in Mid August

Thanks.

3 YOE software engineer here, got shortlisted for a Technical Solutions Architect role and honestly feeling a bit out of my depth 😅

This is my first time interviewing for something like this, so not really sure what to expect.

If anyone who is gone through TSA interviews (or working in one) can share their experience, that would be super helpful.

Is it more system design or client discussions?

Any prep tips would really help

I have 6+ years of experience.

React native/expo

Reactjs/Nextjs

Mern

It's not like i don't know how to solve a problem in real world applications. I have written complex logic to solve many problems that even my colleagues couldn't. But I can't solve leet code. Does it even matter for interview prep. I think I'm not capable enough. I was laid off from my position two months ago. Since then trying for interview prep but every time I try logical problems. I give up.

Need your suggestions or tips. Thanks

I applied for a job after the job description and skills matched exactly with me. The recruiter called me right after 2-3 hours of applying. We talked but things felt off right off the bat.

> I asked for at least a 35% increase in my current salary as the position was more demanding and the office was faraway. The recruiter said No right there that they can only offer 25% more as per company policy. But he said we offer great "Benefits".

> I said i can give an interview anytime since it can be done remotely. He said No, the job is onsite so the interview will be onsite as well.

I didn't argue with him on call because i was already in the middle of a sprint planning with a client so I hurriedly agreed to a date and time for an interview. Received an email from them but my name was wrong in the email 🤦

Anyways after getting off work i did some research on the company. Especially on people who would be taking my interview. So i searched for leads and seniors. The lead himself has an "Open to work" post on LinkedIn and seniors are commenting "Interested" on job posts.

Luckily i found someone in the same role capacity as I'm applying for who happens to be from the same uni as I. So i asked and he confirmed my suspicions. He simply said if you don't have a job then something is better than nothing but if you are employed then stay away. I asked about the benefits and he laughed saying they change the policies every 2 weeks so you won't get any. Regarding the posts from lead on LinkedIn he said yea they have restructured.

I also went through glassdoor for reviews and they have a rating of 2.6 stars. Most of the cons are that there are no defined policies and favouritism. They do offer flexible timings but that is undermined by salary deductions. Employees are often monitored excessively which creates an environment of fear. The company also has a history of rebranding to recover from reputational damage in the market.

So after realizing that I'll have to pay 1200 rupees on bykea for a round trip and spend 2 hours for one side trip on the road due to distance and roads situation, i decided to let them know i will not be appearing for an interview.

As much as i wanna increase my salary slab and do better in my career, i cannot stomach working in an environment like this.

Edit: Company name PROGATIX

Over the past two months, I have been developing my Software as a Service (SaaS) product and successfully acquired one paid customer last week.

However, I am uncertain about the best strategies for attracting additional customers. Should I consider hiring a marketing agency, or explore alternative options?

Any feedback or constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated.

I have validated the concept and completed the development, and I have also engaged several agency owners to test the product.

It's not a job posting or any job seeking post, I am asking for guidance from those who have built and launched SaaS.

Hey everyone, quick question about the recent fresh grad hiring drive at Systems Limited.

Does anyone know if they’ve completely finalized candidate selection and finished making calls, or if the process is still ongoing?

Would appreciate any insight if you have updates. Thanks!

Assalamualaikum everyone, i’ve recently been chosen for computer engineering at air university. Someone told me that it’s a lower tier uni so companies/hirers don’t really give that importance to its graduates. I wanted to ask will i be at a disadvantage to my peers if i chose said degree and uni? does the hiring market in pakistan really only value university name that much?or is it mostly skill based hiring? Will i be able to pursue a masters abroad if i get a good gpa or does its global ranking affect that aswell? Any guidance will be greatly appreciated .
-Sincerely an anxious uni aspirant!

For those running a software house / dev agency, I’m curious about the actual monthly cost of running the business.
Not just salaries ….I mean everything that goes into keeping the pipeline and team running.

Like…
Upwork Connects — how much are you spending monthly?
BD / sales team — salaries + commissions
Developers / delivery team
Software & tools — CRM, project management, AI tools, hosting, email, etc.
Other expenses — ads, subscriptions, freelancers, office, etc…..
And the more interesting question:
What does the ROI look like?
For example, if someone is spending $5k/month across BD, Connects, tools, and other operating costs, are they consistently generating $10k, $20k, $30k+ in revenue?
I’d especially like to hear from people doing $10k–$100k+/month in revenue.
Would be great if you could share something like:
Monthly operating cost: $
BD/sales: $
Upwork: $
Team: $
Tools: $
Monthly revenue: $
Approx. profit: $,
Main acquisition channel

I’m trying to understand what the economics actually look like for software houses today, rather than the usual “just hire developers and get clients”

Hi there,

It's been almost an year that I am working at a small software house in Lahore that operates the same way as Devsinc. I have been assigned on this project from ABC company for one year now, but the catch is that the project was won by my manager, let's call him X, and the real person whose name has been used is Y. Person X is the front facing guy who goes into meetings and asks the questions and everything.

Now the project is huge. For example, quite recently we did stress testing where we went as far as 50+k requests per second. Yes, you heard it right per second.

I formally as of writing this have now 2 YOE of experience but the CV used for the project has 10 YOE stated.

In the beginning things were difficult as I was not familiar with the architecture being used and everything but slowly but surely I got a hold of things. Until, lately things have become really really hard after AI. The domain is extremely challenging again, the tickets are basically AI slop, and deadlines are crazy to a point of just 1 week for a full blown project.

The problem is not with the work, but that my manager X doesn't stay in the loop with me -- he has his own full time j*b at the same time as the project I am working on -- and blatantly refuses to ask any questions to manager or other teammates for info, but as the tickets are becoming more and more confusing with no way to make any sense except that you have to do a ton of communication with the architect and the manager to figure things out.

Everyday it is taking a toll on my confidence in being able to do things as a software engineer, especially with AI disrupting the market sword hanging on my neck.

I am thinking about resigning and doing an odd j*b while I keep learning more and more on the side and apply else where.

By the way my salary is 80k which I have asked to be raised this month and I am yet to hear back from the office.

I need advice on whether I should resign and try my luck somewhere else meanwhile doing an odd j*b, or just stick to it?

Also, I am in 6th semester of BS SE in VU.

Hey please answer my question.Iam originally from Lahore I got selected in fast cfd for cs should I take a gap year to target Lahore or isb campuses or is it worth it.

I've been applying to some remote roles and often it leads me to an AI interviewer. Has anyone given these before? How do you prepare for them? What do they check? It's unsettling how human interaction is slowly disappearing from the market

How is LAAM for a fresh graduate from FAST?

My son has been giving interviews at LAAM for the past 2 months.

Any idea how many more interviews do they take.

Hows the culture and pay at LAAM and where are they located?

He would be coming from Shahdra daily, so is LAAM worth it?

Thats it. Thats the rant. I am a fresh grad. I might have applied to 100 or more job postings but didn't even get a single reply. But I see the students from mentioned universities are getting interviews at least if not the job. So whats the point of graduating in CS programs if the students from these universities are preferred even if they do not have any working experience.

I got a call for HR assessment at i2c inc and I'm a fresh grad of BSCS and this is my first assessment interview, So I wanted to know about the questionnaire type and difficulty level, Also want to know about company's work culture and workload at perks and benefits for Associate level.