The Gap Year That Changed Everything

The First Job

After graduating in 2018, I got placed through campus recruitment at Ugam Solutions as an Associate Data Scientist. I joined in July 2018 with a lot of expectations.

Reality was different. The job involved building tables and validating tables. No programming. My world was programming, and I was unhappy. I learned something valuable though — how to communicate with clients and work in a professional environment. That soft skill would prove useful later.

After six months, I made a decision: I gave my resignation letter. With a one-month notice period, I left in January 2019.

The Plan That Fell Apart

The plan was to start a web development business with a friend. We had been talking about it for a while, and I trusted him enough to quit my job for it.

The next day after I resigned, he stopped picking up his phone. Days turned into weeks. The half problem was mine — I quit without any backup plan, just trusting someone else’s word.

After two to three weeks of waiting, I stopped and accepted reality. It was time to figure things out on my own.

The Reality Check

When I started looking for programming jobs, I realized something harsh: I wasn’t qualified. My college education and one data science role didn’t prepare me for the developer jobs the market wanted.

So I did what made sense — I researched what was trending, what had a future, and made a choice. I picked Python and Django, along with HTML and CSS. For the next six months, I went deep into learning.

No bootcamp, no course subscription. Just online resources, documentation, and building things.

The Freelance Phase

Instead of jumping straight into job applications, I thought I’d build real experience through freelancing. I needed a resume with actual projects, and freelancing could give me that.

Then COVID hit in March 2020. That year is a blur — I wasted a lot of time, but I also completed two small freelance projects.

The breakthrough came in August 2020 when a friend connected me with a client who needed an entire project built using Django and GeoDjango. I took it and worked on it till January 2021.

The money wasn’t much, but the experience was worth far more. I learned something no course can teach — how to understand what a client actually needs, how to ask the right questions, and how to deliver.

The Pressure

After the freelance work dried up, I wanted to start something of my own instead of taking a job. But reality has a way of catching up. Family pressure, relative pressure — the usual.

By September 2021, I started my job search. And that’s when I found a listing for a startup in Coimbatore. Just the founder, looking for their first developer.

I joined on September 24, 2021. That date changed everything.

This is Part 2 of my career journey. Part 1: A Story My Teacher Told covers the beginning. Part 3: From Employee #1 to Lead Developer covers what happened at the startup.