On 4th July, I did something simple.
I made a post on Reddit saying I was looking for a job.
No grand plan. No expectations. Just putting myself out there.
A few founders replied. One of them scheduled a call. I thought it would be a normal, short interaction maybe a quick intro, maybe some advice, maybe nothing at all.
The Call I Didn’t Expect
I joined the call at 3:00 PM.
The CEO said, “I’m waiting for my CTO to join.” While we waited, he asked about my background, my experience, what I’ve worked on.
Then he asked me something that made me pause:
“What is the one thing you are most proud of?”
Not a technical question. Not about grades or titles. Just… me.
I spoke honestly about building, learning, failing, and showing up even when things didn’t work.
Time passed.
The CTO joined. The conversation deepened.
We talked about S3 and CDNs, how content delivery actually works. About reverse proxies vs forward proxies. About web crawling, system design choices, and scaling. About Kafka queues, async processing, and why architecture decisions matter.
One question led to another. Concepts turned into discussions. Discussions turned into problem-solving.
What I thought would be a 15–20 minute chat turned into a 1 hour 50 minute conversation.
The call finally ended at 4:50 PM.
Somewhere in between, a “casual interaction” quietly turned into an opportunity.
The Call That Changed Everything
Later that same day — a calm summer night — my phone rang.
10:04 PM.
It was the CTO.
No buildup. No formality.
Just a few words that mattered the most:
Ha Harsh, Congratulations you are selected for the internship role.
That’s how I got my internship.
What I Learned
This wasn’t luck. And it wasn’t magic.
It was:
- Showing up when I didn’t feel confident
- Posting even when I didn’t know who would respond
- Being honest when asked what I was proud of
- Being prepared even for “small” calls
- Staying consistent, day after day
Opportunities rarely announce themselves loudly. Sometimes they walk in quietly, disguised as a normal conversation and stay longer than expected.
Markets are seasonal, Skills are permanent.
Final Thought
If you’re reading this and feeling stuck:
Keep showing up. Post. Apply. Build. Learn. Talk. Repeat.
You never know which small action will turn into a life-changing call.