A few moments at the start of the year made me rethink the arrangement when I went home in February. I was naive to assume too many things.
Because the office lacked a sense of innovation or learning, I wasn’t learning anything at work. After all, the company had an agreement to fill all H1b visas for tech employees, and the majority of people were awaiting it to get started with the good work or to be on the lookout.
I received a raise in March and began earning 15,000; my parents are still paying the difference. I vividly recall my father saying, “I’ll keep sending you 5,000 every month so you don’t feel like your pay has decreased rather than increased,” I’ve never felt that moved by anything before!
I was fortunate (probably the result of an internal effort!) since my employer submitted my Visa application, which is only eligible for a lottery once a year. The tech work at the company is put on hold from the end of March through the first week of May while everyone fills out visa applications and enters data, which should relieve some of the pressure on the non-tech employees. The most productive period at work was during this time. Every individual was able to perform an all-nighter every other day. I twice did it. wonderful memories!
June arrived, Everything went as planned, but I did not have good luck to win the visa lottery.
I used to get to work around 8:30 a.m. and leave around 5 p.m., ever since I started this job. When I got home, I would take a 30-minute power nap and then start my lessons. I used to study about 3–4 hours a day during the week and 5–6 hours on the weekends to cover the basics.
Chin up soldier! I kept on learning on my own and started looking for jobs. I was sure that I didn’t want to wait for luck for another year.
Around this time, Victor hurt his left leg because he didn’t get enough exercise, so we chose to find him a new home where he could run around freely. 💔
On Saturdays, I went from one tech park to the next, door to door, to find walk-in drives. I didn’t even get to go to a single interview because most of the time my low CGPA (5.79), or cumulative grade point average, didn’t meet the requirements, and other times I didn’t have enough experience. I only got close to an interview once, also in an Amazon drive, but when I found out it wasn’t for a tech job, I politely left. At that time, the only tech jobs in Hyderabad were at big MNCs, and startups were not very common.
I don’t remember how I found it, but I ended up on the website known as “angel list,” which contained job advertisements for businesses just getting started in India. And even if there were no openings for employment, the contact information for the company was provided; just wonderful!
By this time, I had already purchased the domain name for my website (jatintiwari.com) and set up a fancy email address (mail@). Every day, I sent out cold emails. I may have sent hundreds of emails with my resume attached to the contact details that I had located and applied to all of the tech positions that were available on the angel list. Bang, Bang, Bang!
I enjoy giving interviews, even now. Maybe because I was not interviewed much early on!
I don’t remember how many interviews I had at that time, but I do remember the last one, where I got a job with Furlenco. After two tech interviews, one task, one product interview call, and finally a call with THE MAN, it was early October. I was given a job offer. It was in Bengaluru, and they offered me 8,000,000 per year. WoW! WoW! WoW!
In my naivety I divided my annual salary by 12. Like there was no concept of taxes.
I wasn’t sure if I should join a company and give up my dream of going to the U.S., but turning down this offer and waiting another year was also a hard choice for me to make because I lack patience and still do.
To clear this up, I called my cousin in Mumbai. He always says something to the point, like, “What’s worse, staying here and not learning anything or going to Bengaluru and having a lot of options?” That’s it! I packed my bags again because my next stop was Bengaluru.
On my first day at Furlenco, I was given an MBP laptop and told I could take it home. To my surprise, I said, “Do you want to see my ID or something?” I had heard that some MNCs had strict rules for their employees, but here I was on my first day of work just walking out with a laptop in my hand.
It was a great team, and I always learned something new. Unknowingly, the peer effect was helping me because the people at Furlenco were very smart, came from India’s best schools, and were always trying to change the game. As the business grew at first, the team was small, close, and full of energy.
The culture was great, and every time a new feature was released on Furlenco, everyone went to the neighborhood fil'n'chill bar to celebrate. Every night, a group from Furlenco would be sitting there.
I took a very different path home that year. I took a bus to Hyderabad, then a flight to Delhi, and then a bus to Chandigarh. It happened because I bought the tickets to go home when I was still in Hyderabad, six months earlier.
I rang in the new year with my college friends at home. Welcome to 2016!