- IIT-BHU alumnus Akash Pandey faced a challenging interview questioning his career choice despite his degree
- He spent three years preparing for UPSC before returning to the corporate sector after graduation in 2016
- Pandey highlighted the pressure IIT graduates face to always succeed without failure or judgment
An IIT-BHU alumnus has opened up about an uncomfortable job interview that left him questioning his career choices. In a LinkedIn post, New York-based software engineer Akash Sampurnanand Pandey recalled a 2019 interview for an entry-level data analyst position that paid Rs 40,000 a month. Instead of focusing on his skills, the interviewer asked why an IITian was applying for such a position.
The remark hit Pandey hard. At the time, he had already spent three years away from the industry after graduating from IIT (BHU) in 2016. He had been preparing for the UPSC examination but eventually decided to return to the corporate world.
Pandey said the experience made him realise the flip side of carrying the IIT tag. An IIT degree can do wonders, but can also lead to an assumption that IIT graduates must always have successful careers.
"That's the part of the IIT tag nobody warns you about. It opens a lot of doors, yes. But it quietly shuts one door – the right to fail without being judged or insulted. And you internalise it. For months I measured myself against the top 1 per cent of my batch and felt lost every single day," he wrote.
He said he spent months comparing himself with the most successful people from his batch and feeling that he had somehow fallen short. "There are about 300,000 living IITians in the last 60 years. The overwhelming majority build above-average, well-paid, fulfilling but maybe unglamorous careers. The media only hypes up the top 1%," he added.
See the post here:
Pandey eventually rebuilt his career one step at a time, taking roles that may not have looked impressive on paper. Today, he works as a software engineer in New York and says his income places him among the top earners in the US.
His experience also made him question the notion that graduating from IIT and clearing the JEE should be the deciding factor in one's life trajectory. He argued that an entrance exam taken at 18 was not to be a permanent measure of potential or a permanent guarantee of success.
"But here is the truth that sets everyone free. The JEE exam was never meant to be a life sentence or a lifetime pass. The IITian carrying the heavy burden of failed potential and the person without the IIT tag feeling lesser are bound by the same illusion - that an entrance test they appeared at 18 can set their lifelong limits," he said.
The post resonated with LinkedIn users, with several people sharing similar experiences of dealing with career setbacks after graduating from prestigious institutions.
One user wrote, "Had a similar conversation with someone who was from another premier institution (not IIT) after my graduation - I think it is important to realize that setbacks are a normal part of life and sometimes you just gotta push it through." Another commented, "I had similar conversations with people in my previous organisation. Being from IIT/NIT, but not doing that great in life gives next level pressure and humiliation surrounds you when you hear such things from peeps around you. You feel like what you have done by achieving so many things, but then I say to myself, time changes. One need to keep all these conversation aside and work upon becoming what you want in life."
