Post by Suraj Anand

I want to share something candidly — because I think it reflects a larger challenge that many of us in the fresher market are silently navigating. I completed my internship at NVIDIA earlier this year. It was a performance-based PPO role — and when it ended, the recruiter told me in your team simply didn't have a vacancy. Not a performance issue. Not a fit issue. Just — no seat at the table. I thought: okay, NVIDIA on the resume, IIT Bhubaneswar, solid projects — the market will respond. It hasn't. Not in the way I hoped. Since then, I've been on the job hunt. And it's been a humbling experience. 🔹 Amazon — multiple rounds, long timelines, and an outcome that still hasn't come. 🔹 NVIDIA — three strong rounds, only to be told in the final that they need someone with more industry experience. 🔹 Recruiter calls — almost always stall at the same question: "How many years of work experience do you have?" It's a frustrating paradox. Internships are how freshers build experience. But those same internships — even at companies like NVIDIA — are often not counted as "real" experience by the next employer. I come from IIT Bhubaneswar, have a strong technical foundation across systems, architecture, and backend engineering, and have delivered meaningful work. Yet the path forward feels unclear. I'm writing this because: 1. Someone else out there is probably feeling the same thing. 2. I'd genuinely appreciate introductions, referrals, or conversations with anyone hiring for backend, SDE, or Hardware roles. If you've navigated this — I'd love to hear what worked. And if you're hiring — let's talk. #JobSearch #OpenToWork #Fresher #NVIDIA #IITBhubaneswar #SystemsEngineering #HiringNow