Engineering student gets Rs 50 lakh job offer without applying, credits AI

An engineering student has managed to secure two job offers worth around Rs 50 lakh per annum (LPA) without following the usual recruitment process. He did not apply through job portals or rely on campus placements. Instead, a product he had built with a friend caught the attention of a startup founder, while a round of carefully targeted emails helped him land another offer within a week. Sharing his experience on Reddit, the student said his first opportunity came during his third year of college. He had spent nearly two years developing an AI-powered video editor with a friend. Although the product was buggy and the duo eventually stopped working on it because they could not grow the business, it had managed to attract around 13,000 users.The project continued to bring opportunities even after the two friends abandoned it. A startup founder discovered their product launch on X (formerly Twitter) and contacted the student. Since the company was developing something in a similar space, the founder offered him a remote position with a salary package of approximately Rs 50 LPA.best advice if you are a clg student https://t.co/DrJX1f3wTA— Asmit (@coolcoder56) November 2, 2026The student said he did not even have a resume at the time. His experience building a product similar to what the company needed was enough to get him noticed. He then received another opportunity after deciding against a job that required him to work from the office, as he wanted to continue his college commitments. Instead, he researched 30 startups that matched his interests and emailed their founders directly. The response he claims was encouraging, with 13 companies replying. Within seven days, he received another Rs 50 LPA offer, this time from a Y Combinator-backed startup.The student advised other aspiring engineers to stop sending generic applications to hundreds of companies. Instead, he suggested identifying a particular startup category, building a functional product and approaching around 30 relevant businesses. He said candidates should aim to be a 95% fit for a few companies rather than a 60 percent fit for everyone. He is also developing Backdoor, an AI agent intended to help people write and send personalised cold emails to startups. AI is changing what companies expect from engineersThe student's experience comes at a time when the technology industry is reconsidering the skills it expects from engineering graduates. Artificial intelligence is making several coding and software development tasks faster, while companies are increasingly looking for people who can use these tools to build and deliver products.However, the growing use of AI is also creating uncertainty about traditional technology jobs. A recent Stack Overflow survey, shared with CNN, found that six in 10 technology workers who participated said they try to avoid using AI. The survey covered around 30,000 software developers across 169 countries. At the same time, 65 percent of respondents said they use coding assistants or AI agents. The findings point to a complicated relationship developers have with the technology: while many are adopting it, not everyone is convinced that it makes their work easier.Stack Overflow CEO Prashanth Chandrasekar told CNN that AI is adding to existing concerns around career growth and job security. Experienced developers are questioning how relevant their existing skills will remain, while entry-level workers are facing higher expectations because AI tools can already handle some basic tasks. The situation is particularly important for engineering students in India, where a college degree has traditionally been seen as a route to a stable technology job.In a recent column for The Times of India, author and columnist Chetan Bhagat questioned whether Indian families are preparing their children for a job market that is changing rapidly because of AI. Data cited in his column showed that fresh graduate recruitment in India's IT-BPM sector fell from an estimated four lakh in FY22 to 1.75 lakh in FY26, even as engineering enrolments increased from 9.2 lakh to 13.5 lakh.The gap points to a growing challenge for graduates entering the workforce. An engineering degree alone may no longer be enough to secure the kind of job many students expect.- Ends