My Journey From TCS to an Amazon Offer | Scaler Academy Review
How do you even know where you’re going wrong when the interviews keep ending in rejection?
It took me a while to find the answer. After engineering and a campus placement at TCS, I thought getting better at coding and applying to bigger companies would be enough. But the more interviews I gave, the more I realised there was something I was missing. I just had to figure out what it was.
There were plenty of attempts after that. Some worked, some didn't, and each one left me with something to think about. One rejection in particular made me realise that I needed to change the way I was preparing.
But before all of that, there was a much earlier reason I became interested in computers in the first place.
The ₹20,000 Computer My Father Bought Me
I got my first computer when I was six. My father couldn't really afford it at the time, but somehow he managed to arrange ₹20,000 and bought it for me.
That computer is still at my home. Nobody uses it anymore, but it is still there.
But then something unexpected happened. When I was in 7th grade, my father passed away. I still had my mother and uncle to support, and my uncle even helped with my fees while I was completing my B.Tech. But still, going through all of this didn't really make it easier to complete my engineering.
By Classes 10 and 11, academics had become my top priority. Getting good marks was important for admission to a good college, which meant putting computers aside for a while. It wasn't something I liked, especially because I loved computers, but science had to come first.
I had also attempted to get into IIT. The first attempt didn't work out, so I took a drop and tried again, but that didn't work either. I thought maybe IIT wasn't meant for me. So, with what most people were going ahead wth, I too chose engineering.
Eventually, I joined a tier-3 engineering college. The college gave me the basics, but there was still a lot more I wanted to learn about coding.
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I was born and brought up in Jamshedpur. Eventually, I took admission in a tier-3 engineering college, knowing that I couldn't simply depend on the campus placements there.
The curriculum was mostly limited to the basics, and a lot of it was something I had already learnt in 11th and 12th grade. For placements, the main focus was on getting a good pointer so that we could sit for the company drives, and because of this, most people were aiming for a 9. I was really okay with getting an 8.5 and using the extra time to do something I was actually interested in, which was coding.
There was always this feeling that I could have done better. But I had to work with what I had, so I started thinking about how I could make the best of it.
Some of my friends were practising competitive programming on InterviewBit, and many of them were getting selected by big companies. That inspired me to start practising too.
At that point, coding was no longer something I wanted to keep on the side. I wanted to see how far I could take it.
Life at TCS and Why I Knew I Had to Move
After graduation, I joined TCS in Bangalore through campus placement.
By then, some of my friends were practising competitive programming on InterviewBit and getting selected by big companies. I was practising there too, but I wasn't putting in as much effort as they were. Seeing their progress made me want to take my own preparation more seriously.
A lot of my focus shifted towards data structures and algorithms because I wanted to prepare for technical interviews. There was a clear difference between what I was doing at that point and what some of my friends were doing, and I wanted to step up.
So, along with my job at TCS, I started applying to companies.
The first few attempts didn't go the way I expected. Some of the companies that came through campus, including SAP Labs, rejected me. I also applied to Amazon off campus, but couldn't clear that interview either.
Those rejections made me rethink the way I was preparing. Solving coding questions was one part of it, but there were other things I hadn't paid enough attention to. How do you approach a problem when someone is watching you solve it? How do you explain your solution clearly? What happens when the interviewer asks you to think beyond the answer you've prepared?
I didn't have all those answers yet. But the interviews were starting to show me where I needed to improve.
Why I Picked Scaler Academy
After the Amazon rejection and some of the other interviews, I received an email from InterviewBit about a new online program that they were launching under the name of Scaler Academy.
It was a six-month program where I could learn data structures and algorithms and get referred to different companies upon completion.
That interested me because I already knew that I couldn't depend on getting a good placement from my college. I wanted to do something on my own and prepare for referrals and interviews.
I took the entrance test for Scaler Academy, but I couldn't clear it on my first attempt.
So I practised harder and took the test again.
This time, I got selected.
I joined Scaler Academy in May 2019.
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Before joining Scaler, I was already practising coding. What I was looking for was a way to bring some direction to that preparation and understand where I was going wrong.
The program followed a curriculum around data structures and algorithms, with mentors available to help during the course.
Around the fourth month, I began getting referrals to different companies. A few of those interviews ended in rejection. After the first three, I didn’t wish to just move forward without looking into what was wrong, so I started to pay more attention to the places that required fixing.
And for this, mock interviews really helped me out. There were questions I could solve, but that didn't necessarily mean I could handle the interview well. How should the solution be approached? How much of the thought process should be explained? What should the interviewer see before getting to the final answer?
One of my mentors gave me a simple tip: even if I knew the optimised solution, start with the brute-force approach and then move towards the optimised one.
That helped me change the way I presented solutions. Rather than jumping straight to the answer, I could walk the interviewer through my thinking and then explain why the final approach was better.
The interviews also made me realise that solving questions is only one part of preparing for a top company. During my Amazon interview, they looked at things such as whether I covered the edge cases, the time complexity of my solution, how I optimised it, and how cleanly I wrote the code.
The mock interviews gave me a chance to work on those things before facing the actual interview. They also helped me become more confident about presenting myself during interviews.
By then, I had a much clearer idea of what an interview required from me,
My First Amazon Attempt Failed. Here's What I Changed.
I had already applied to Amazon off campus before joining Scaler, but I couldn't clear the interview.
By the time I got another opportunity, I had gone through several other interviews as well. The rejections had given me a better understanding of where I was falling short, and the feedback from my mentors had helped me work on those areas.
Eventually, I got a referral for Amazon again.
This time, the preparation was different. I had already worked on the mistakes from my earlier interviews, so there was a better understanding of what the interview would require. Amazon wasn't only looking at whether I could solve a coding problem.
All of that was something I had been working on through the preparation and mock interviews.
And thankfully, the second attempt went well, and I cleared the Amazon interview.
Turn Learning into Career Growth
The Offer: and What It Meant for My Family
Today, I have a job at Amazon.
When I told my mother that I had been selected, she didn't know much about Amazon. She just knew that I had got a good job. When I told her about the salary, she understood that it was a good one.
There is a lot I am grateful for: the rejections, the guidance from my mentors, the effort I put in, and the effort that everyone around me put in as well.
Even after joining Amazon, I haven't stopped coding. I still watch lectures through my Scaler account, and I am trying to learn new technologies and improve my skills every day. There is still a lot to learn, and I want to keep getting better at what I do.
What I learnt at Scaler helped me clear the interview, but I also think it will help me during my job. I want to keep learning and see where that takes me.
Who Should Consider This Path?
If someone is starting a similar journey, I would suggest taking the lectures seriously and trying to solve all the problems given in the assignments.
If you get stuck somewhere, ask your TAs or your batchmates for help. Don't just leave the problem.
And also, as disheartening as it is, always be ready for rejections.
I had several of them before I got the Amazon offer. I was rejected by companies during the process, and I had already failed my first Amazon interview.
The important thing is to understand what went wrong.
After every interview, try to identify the mistakes you made, work on them, and then appear for the next opportunity. Don't get disheartened by the rejection and stop practising.
For me, the second Amazon attempt was different because I had understood what I needed to change.
And even now, I am still learning, and I don't think that process stops after getting the job.
FAQs
Can you get into Amazon from a tier-3 college and a service company like TCS?
Ajitesh Kumar, a Scaler Academy alumnus, studied at a tier-3 engineering college before joining TCS through campus placement in Bangalore. While working at TCS, he continued practising coding and preparing for technical interviews. After facing rejections at several companies, including Amazon on his first attempt, he joined Scaler Academy to strengthen his preparation. He later received another Amazon referral, cleared the interview, and secured the offer.
What happens if you fail a top-company interview the first time?
A similar experience took place with Ajitesh Kumar. His first Amazon interview took place before he joined Scaler Academy, but he couldn't clear it. More interviews and rejections followed, helping him identify areas he needed to work on. During the Scaler Academy program, mentor feedback and mock interviews helped him improve how he approached and presented coding problems. When another Amazon opportunity came up, he applied what he had learnt and cleared the interview.
Did Ajitesh study while working at TCS?
He joined TCS in Bangalore after graduating from his engineering college and started preparing for technical interviews while working. He was already practising coding on InterviewBit before joining Scaler Academy. In May 2019, he joined Scaler Academy, where he continued his preparation alongside his work. His interview does not mention a specific number of study hours or a fixed daily routine, so those details cannot be confirmed.
Is Scaler Academy worth the fees for someone from a modest financial background?
Ajitesh chose Scaler Academy because he wanted a more structured way to prepare for technical interviews. After joining TCS and facing rejections at several companies, he realised that practising coding alone wasn't enough and that he needed guidance on areas such as problem-solving and interview preparation.
For learners considering the program today, Scaler offers EMI options, so the fee can be paid in installments. There is also a 14-day window to apply for a refund if you decide not to continue. You can check the terms and conditions for more information.
Considering a similar path? Explore Scaler Academy to learn more about the program.
