While writing this blog, I’m currently working as an MTS - 1 at Fyle. This blog is to document my journey into Fyle. Just as a reminder for myself, in case I forget one day.
Table of contents
Open Table of contents
Why?
This blog is deeply personal—a reflection of my journey, my experiences, and the moments that have shaped me. I write both technical and personal blogs, not to show off, but to keep a record of the memories and lessons that matter to me. My website isn’t a platform to announce accomplishments; it’s more like a diary where I capture everything I want to hold on to, especially the things I’ll need to revisit when times get tough.
If you know me personally, you probably didn’t even know I had this internship because I never talked about it. That’s just how I am—I tend to keep things to myself. This blog is no different. It will stay here as a quiet reflection of what I’ve been through, and I won’t be sharing it on LinkedIn or anywhere else because that’s not the point. This space is for me, to remind myself of the struggles, the victories, and the journey when I need it most.
I’ve made it public, though, because maybe—just maybe—someone else will stumble across it and find some motivation, some comfort, or some hope in it. But I’m not here to prove that I’m the best or that I’ve done anything special. This is just my story, and it’s here for me to look back on, to remind myself of the good days when I’m going through the hard ones.
The background story
Placement Blues
I never really cared much about internships, and there were a few reasons for that. First of all, college was a major source of demotivation for me. If I’m being honest, there’s so much to rant about when it comes to my college experience. But let’s save that for another day—and another blog. (If I ever write it, I’ll make sure to backlink it here.)
The point is, college left me drained, and I never found the drive to pursue internships while I was there. On top of that, my university had pretty rigid policies when it came to internships, making it difficult for students to take on any meaningful opportunities. It was frustrating, and honestly, I hope someone fixes that someday.
Fast forward to October 2023 when the placement season began. It wasn’t a great year, with the recession looming and companies cutting back on hiring. It was a tough time for everyone, with few opportunities showing up.
The Good
Now, about Company X. I’m not revealing their name here—not because I’m afraid of them or worried about getting blacklisted. To be clear, I couldn’t care less if I got blacklisted. I have every reason to name them publicly out of the frustration I still feel. But the truth is, I just don’t want to bring unnecessary drama into my life. That’s the only reason I’m holding back. Maybe one day I’ll name them, and if that happens, I’ll come back and edit this part. But for now, let’s just call them X.
In September 2023, Company X made its appearance. Their forms had been floating around since August, and like everyone else, I filled them out. They hosted a pre-placement talk during the first week of September. It wasn’t groundbreaking, but I was mildly surprised since it was slightly different for the better than what you’d expect from a typical service-based company. It sparked a bit of hope.
By mid-September, I received a notification for the coding assessment. The test was scheduled, and I was ready, being in the usual flow of placement preparations. I wasn’t expecting it to be too tough, given the company’s profile, but the questions turned out to be much harder than anticipated. The test had five coding problems, and although I thought they’d be more manageable, they leaned toward the difficult side. Still, I managed to solve around three and a half questions, which I felt pretty confident about. I figured that should be enough to get shortlisted.
Within a week, the list came out, and my name was on it. But here’s where things started getting tricky: the interviews were set for the very next day, which didn’t leave much time to prepare. With barely a day in hand, I quickly went over the essentials to make sure I was ready.
The interview rounds were tougher than expected for a service-based company. The questions were more challenging than I’d anticipated, but I felt I handled them well. There were two rounds, and both were no walk in the park. Still, despite the pressure, I was satisfied with how I performed, and I had a good feeling about the outcome.
A couple of weeks later, the final results were announced, and I was offered the job. It was a relief, especially knowing the effort that went into those rounds. After looking up reviews and talking to people, the feedback was mostly positive. From what I heard, it seemed like a solid place to start my career, and I was optimistic about what lay ahead.
The Bad
After settling on this company, I was hopeful and prepared to join. The salary package wasn’t stellar, but it was decent for a fresher in Kerala, where living expenses are relatively low. The main motivation for me was the opportunity to move past the demotivating college experience and dive into software engineering—a field I genuinely enjoy.
College had always felt like a chore, filled with uninspiring academics and projects. Despite this, I found solace in coding, exploring software, and creating cool scripts. Coding is more than just a job for me; it’s a hobby that I get paid to do. I believe many who complain about their software engineering jobs might not enjoy what they do or have been pushed into it without passion. For me, programming has always been enjoyable, and it remains a fulfilling hobby.
I didn’t actively seek opportunities elsewhere; I was content with the prospect of joining this company. However, my optimism began to wane when I received no updates after the final shortlist. From October to December, I waited for any communication about the onboarding process, but nothing came through. Stories of companies retracting offers and failing to follow through began to circulate in my network, heightening my concerns. In late December, I reached out to the company, only to receive an automated response, giving me little reassurance.
The Ugly
After receiving initial reassurance from the company, I continued to wait for updates, but none came. Concerned, I reached out to a Reddit user who claimed to be a senior engineer at the company. He escalated my issue to HR, who called me and assured me that onboarding would proceed after graduation.
But in April, I was stunned to receive an email from the placement cell stating that, due to market conditions, onboarding would be delayed until 2025. This was a brutal blow, especially after the HR’s recent assurance. It felt like a cruel joke. I was left grappling with feelings of betrayal and disillusionment.
The promise of January 2025 as a start date seemed like a mere formality—just another empty gesture. I had seen other companies do the same, and it hit hard. It wasn’t just about having a job or making money; it was about channeling my passion for technology and computing into something meaningful. All the effort I had put into computer science, something I genuinely loved, seemed to be for nothing. That day, I felt my faith in the world crumble, questioning everything I had worked for.
The comeback story
Restart
I figured I had to stay active, so I channeled my frustration into a job search frenzy. I hit “forgot password” on Unstop, Naukri, Internshala, and any other platform I could think of, and revamped my resume. The next day, I dove into the off-campus job hunt. It was grueling, and often, I didn’t even get rejection emails. I applied to over 100 jobs a day, throwing my resume at anything that looked promising. After several hundred applications, I got just 1-2 responses. I was selected for one opportunity, but I had to drop out during the interview phase due to a graduation year mismatch—they were looking for graduates. Still, it gave me a glimmer of hope that something might eventually turn up.
I remember this was also around the time my internal exams were scheduled. I’ve always disliked these exams, and with everything I had been going through, studying became even tougher. I ended up cramming notes just an hour before the exams, which, unsurprisingly, led to poor grades. But at that moment, my grades were the least of my concerns.
I kept applying for jobs daily, including on Internshala, and while I was initially pleased to receive some responses, I soon realized many opportunities there were scams. However, I managed to identify and apply to a few legitimate ones.
First Encounter with Fyle
I’m not even sure when I applied to Fyle amidst my Internshala grind, but I must have sent an application during that time. I remember receiving Fyle’s response along with a few others. I took leave and went back home because I never liked staying at college. I vividly recall checking my responses while waiting for my usual 4PM home ride Kanyakumari-Bangalore Express at Kottayam railway station. When I saw Fyle’s reply, I checked out the GitHub repo for the assignment and immediately recognized it as a legitimate company due to the well-structured project. I even recalled having seen this repo forked on someone else’s profile before.
The next day, I dived into the assignment. I forked the repo and got to work. Within 2-3 hours, I had the basic functionalities working, and after 4-5 hours, the entire assignment was complete. I promptly filled out the Google form and eagerly awaited a response. Meanwhile, I had another interview scheduled for the following week from a different opportunity I had found on Internshala.
Despite the challenges, I felt hopeful again, at least knowing that I was getting some traction.
Anticipation and Preparation
A couple of days later, I received a response from Fyle: I was shortlisted for the first round of interviews. I got a Calendly link to schedule the interview and set it for May 2, 2024, Thursday, carefully choosing a day when I could safely be away from college. I had to return to college to complete some exams and assignments, so I arranged the interview for a time that worked around those commitments. It happened to be the final week of classes, with farewell events scheduled, which I was considering skipping anyway. Now, I had a solid reason to stay away. I returned home and began preparing for the interviews.
I read through blogs and previous experiences related to Fyle to get ready for the interview and waited for the day to arrive.
First Impressions: The Initial Interview
My first interview was set for 10:30 AM IST, May 2, 2024, Thursday. The Google Meet invite included two people from Fyle: Nilesh and Swetabh Kumar. Nilesh never joined the call, which later became an inside joke after I joined Fyle—more on that another time. When the meeting began, Swetabh, an engineering manager at Fyle, joined shortly after.
Swetabh introduced Fyle and its culture before diving into the interview. He shared a Notion doc containing three questions: one on data structures within a Python template, one SQL question, and one system design question. I was initially overwhelmed by the length of the document, though I hadn’t even read it fully. Before I could start reading, he asked me to share my screen so he could see my code. I prayed to my Wayland gods, but my screenshare failed due to a glitch in my Hyprland config, which caused the screenshare layer to be out of focus. This is why you should not run bleeding-edge software—sometimes it just doesn’t work as expected. Realizing my mistake, I requested to rejoin the call. Swetabh was understanding, and I rejoined from a different browser, which thankfully worked.
I then took a thorough look at the document. Despite its length, the tasks seemed manageable. I knew the solutions, but my anxiety led to some silly mistakes during coding. Fortunately, Swetabh pointed out these errors, and I corrected them swiftly. I finished the interview on time, answering all the questions satisfactorily. We chatted a bit more about Fyle, and before ending the call, Swetabh said, “Based on how this interview went, there will definitely be a second round. I’ll get back to you via email by this evening.” My heart settled as I realized I had made it through the first round. Now, I awaited the second.
The Next Step: Round 2 of the Interview Process
As promised during the first call, I received a link to schedule the second round of interviews with Kartikey Rajvaidya and Kirti Gautam. I set it for 11:30 AM IST, May 6, 2024, Monday. I knew I had to crack it.
When the day arrived, I joined the call a minute early, waiting for Kartikey to join. Right on time, Kartikey and Kirti logged in. Kartikey introduced himself and Kirti, then asked about me. The atmosphere was surprisingly warm and conversational—it didn’t feel like a typical interview but more like a friendly discussion. Kartikey inquired about my projects, and I talked about the recent KTU Bot I had developed. Both Kartikey and Kirti showed genuine interest, and our conversation flowed naturally.
The interview included several questions related to backend engineering. While I struggled with a few of them, they were understanding and encouraged me to research and send the answers via email after the interview. The whole experience felt more like a meaningful conversation than a formal interview, which is not something you usually get to see.
After the interview, I spent the next few hours compiling and refining my responses to the questions I couldn’t answer. I sent the email and waited for a final response.
The Good, the Bad, and the Triumph
Around 5 PM, I received a call from a number identified as Kartikey Rajvaidya on Truecaller. My heart raced as I answered. It was indeed Kartikey, who informed me that he had received my email and was offering me an internship at Fyle. I was overjoyed and accepted the offer immediately. We discussed onboarding details and ended the call with farewells.
That night, sleep eluded me. The emotions were too overwhelming; it felt like a surreal, beautifully crafted story. All the struggles and frustrations I had faced seemed to culminate in this one moment. It was as if I was being rewarded for all the hardships.
I chose not to share the news with anyone yet. I only mentioned to my parents that there was a possibility of something happening, but nothing was confirmed. I kept it to myself, not even telling friends or others.
The very next day, I eagerly awaited the official offer letter. Despite my skepticism from past experiences with other companies, I couldn’t help but hope for the best. Finally, at around 12 AM on May 8, Wednesday, I received the offer letter from Saurav Tulsayn. I was constantly checking my email, and when I saw the offer letter, I couldn’t believe it. I stayed awake, unable to sleep, overwhelmed by the flood of emotions. It felt like watching my past experiences replay in a movie, all leading up to this incredible moment.
Did you read till here? Really? More on my internship experience at Fyle later. I’ll make sure to backlink here. And, You are awesome :)