How a civil engineer overcame his fear of React to thrive as a SDE-1
Satyajeet comes from a supportive family who has always trusted his decisions. A civil engineer by education, his desire to never settle, pushed him towards a new tech horizon after graduation. So he made the difficult decision to transition careers alongside Masai.
Now an SDE-1 working for Pluralsight, he has turned his life around in a matter of months. Let’s join him for a quick chat about his Masai journey and his learnings from it.
How did you find out about Masai?
After I finished my graduation in civil engineering, I promptly started looking for good career opportunities. During the 2-3 months I spent looking for a job, one of my friends told me about his own recent graduation, and unlike me, he was already placed.
He had upskilled himself with Masai, and suggested it to me too. As I looked further into Masai, it became clear this was for me, and I joined soon after.
What was your parents' reaction to Masai?
My parents have always supported me without doubting my decisions. That’s a big thing for me. So when I told them about Masai and my decision to pursue tech now, they still encouraged me. They said they’ll have faith if I believe I can do this, so they were almost too supportive.
What’s your favorite thing about Masai?
The way Masai conducts the curriculum as well as the attitude of the faculty is something that stands out to me. Your teachers know when to be strict with the students and when to loosen up a little. Everything is tailored, so your Masai experience is just right.
They provide a clear path for the students to follow. I can study all the material on my own too, but I could never do it as well or in such a short time. Things like daily assignments allow you to build more while teaching you a problem-solving attitude. The systems Masai has built allow you to learn so many things so rigorously, that’s my favorite part.
How was your experience with the curriculum
To be honest, till Unit 3, it was a smooth ride for me. I didn’t face many problems and I could grasp everything that was being taught. Though the curriculum was vast and I am a newbie in the world of tech, the way Masai taught us made everything easy to understand.
That changed when we started learning React. It was like a reality check. For 10 days I couldn’t understand anything. Just as I was getting worried, Nrupul sir’s words put me at ease. He always told us that your first library or framework would take much longer. But it’s okay to take your time as he himself once spent multiple days understanding such topics.
That was a great relief, and as time went on, I got a chance to practice more in the form of projects. So soon I had a handle on React, and the rest was smooth sailing like before.
What was your construct week experience like?
The construct week is the best part of my Masai journey. Construct week project gives you a real-time experience of building something, and you’re responsible for your own success.
Even in your job, no one is going to spoon feed you anything. You’re accountable for the quality of your work. And you learn that during construct week while juggling deadlines and communicating with your teammates.
This is something really basic that each Masai student learns, that alongside the knowledge and skills, you also need to learn the pace of working in tech.
How was your placement experience?
I only interviewed for around 1-2 companies before I finally landed my current job. When Pluralsight came to Masai, I was shortlisted for the interview round quickly. I scrambled to Bangalore immediately as the interview was the next day.
Everything happened so quickly, I still can’t believe it. On the day of my interview, everything went well, and I got news of the hiring that day itself.