Backstory:
On 24th April 2020, my 4th year 2nd semester exams (#final semester exams) will start.
The day before the exams, on April 23, 2020. I was preparing for my exams thinking about my career after graduation. But, I didn’t expect that phone call from my college which informed me that the exams are postponed due to the Lockdown because of COVID-19 cases increasing in India.
At first, I thought it would end in 1 or 2 months. But, still after 4 months, it was still standing strong affecting everyone around the world where we are in the middle of nowhere. People began to call us the “Covid Batch”.
In October our college “Anil Neerukonda Institute of Technology & Sciences” decided to conduct semester exams. On the other hand, it also had a medical college and a hospital filled with Covid patients.
Hence, not only students but also professors are not willing to risk their lives which could also affect their family members. So, the college declared that we are going to have an online semester examination with strict online invigilation. And, I have written the exams.
In January 2021, I got the results saying that I had secured an 8.12 CGPA and was also awarded for 0 backlogs in all 8 semesters.
I was happy. But, it was too late, COVID-19 already entered our city and it also entered our house, affecting my father. (Corona 2nd wave)
Now, we are under house arrest.
But, on the other side I was preparing myself to become an entrepreneur 🔥 or to join a startup I tried many side hustles such as selling eBooks on Amazon 📕, starting a blog regarding building apps without code 📜, Building websites for startups using Wix 🙂, I am learning copywriting 👔, and studying businesses to understand what they do 🧠 and so on…
I did all these things Using my 2nd hand laptop which I bought for $108 💀.
Then I failed.
I failed to sell my eBook published on Amazon. It was published in June 2020.
At the same time, my blog which I started is also not getting any results. It also failed miserably.
Yet, I don’t want that knowledge to fade away. Hence, I have decided to create a free blog on “blogger” and upload all my blogs into it in September 2021.
Instead of getting disappointed, I asked myself why I had failed. and began to analyze myself.
But on the other hand, I was not making money, At the same time millions of people getting laid off from their jobs whereas government employees received half of their salary every month.
So, my parents decided to send me to Nandyal for the Bank coaching center to prepare for Government jobs. Although I told my parents I wanted to be an entrepreneur a million times, they always used to discourage me by saying it’s very hard, go get a job.
Sometimes there are situations where they used to get very angry and yell at me saying that we gave you birth to work for others. It hurts when your own family doesn’t understand you and support you.
From that day onwards I stopped sharing my feelings with my parents. And, packed my bags to go to Nandyal for bank coaching.
But, I enjoyed learning mathematics and concepts like profits, time and work, and so on… which I thought could be useful for an entrepreneur. But, thanks to the technology we don’t have to learn any of that.
Then, at the end of November 2021, Corona 3rd wave began to affect our batch mates in that institute and everyone was scared especially students from far places including me and my roommate “Govind” (I am very thankful to him). He booked the train tickets (online) for me along with him by asking his brother if we needed to catch two trains. a few days later we started our journey before it was too late and the transportation was halted by the Indian government.
Now, I am still unemployed.
Many aspiring entrepreneurs think doing a job or working for others is a bad thing, which is incorrect.
I respect working for others and I recommend it. Because, it will give you knowledge, peace of mind, and the confidence to take risks and try new things in life.
Most importantly, it will teach you how a company runs and how it manages everything.
I got my first job as a steel detailer:
There used to be a person in my street who was also a civil engineer. His name is “Vinod” and he is a steel detailer who is working for a company in Hyderabad that is hiring new employees”.
{I don’t wanna mention the name of the company.}
He told me to apply, attend the interview, and try it.
But, I gave it my 100%. I have not only prepared for their written test & interview but also prepared a detailed “business growth plan for them using my previous business knowledge”.
I have removed the name and logo from this book for legal reasons.
Also, the LinkedIn account which you will see here has been deleted 👀 by me. I will tell you the reasons behind it later.
I got hired by the company in the name of a “Over qualified individual”.
Everything went well for 5 months when I worked for US clients preparing single parts, assembly drawings, and multi-sheet drawings for them. Sometimes I used to work 10 to 11 hours per day.
I used to work in Morning shift (timings from 8:30 A.M to 5:30 P.M). But, I used to work more for my clients in the US. I wanna give my best for them too 😎.
Then, one fine day I received a message from my company, which said: “We are opening a new office which is near to our present office and we are shutting down the morning and night shifts”.
At first, everything is going well. Until companies are forcing us to work more and more. It was when we realized that the company doesn’t like to pay shift allowances that they opened a new office by using that money.
Which is not bad until the company makes you work more and more in the name of “project submissions”.
I have mentioned this issue and how it can ruin the company in my eBook 📕: Mistakes of Present So-called Entrepreneurs that Kill their Startup.
Within a few weeks, I felt weak and tired and saw the same symptoms in my colleagues. Some of them are burnt with work. Many of their eyes were watering and some of them were crying in front of me.
But no one is brave enough to raise a complaint as they could lose their job.
So one day, I took the initiation and called HR and questioned him regarding the poor way of treating the employees by making them work for 10 to 12+ hours per day by eliminating morning shifts and night shifts and making employees work 2 shifts per day without extra payments, and not caring of employees physical and mental health.
The majority of my colleagues have supported me and joined me in raising a complaint to the higher authorities.
It is when the HR, Project managers, and Team managers gave them the answer by terminating me to shut their mouths 😮.
This happened in the last week of October 2022.
HERE, I AM NOT BLAMING THE COMPANY. I am just sharing my experience.
Later, I began to create content on LinkedIn regarding business development for steel detailing companies why is it important to take good care of employees, and so on…
I got chicken pox:
On 2 January 2023. This year I got chicken pox and stayed at home for 6 weeks. After I recovered I began to create content on LinkedIn.
Then 1 company approached me and said that they were willing to hire me as a “Business developer”.
Also, a person from Bangalore called me and said that he was planning to start a “steel detailing company” and he invited me to join him.
Everything looked fine to me and I was asking the company to send the offer letter and also encouraged to conduct an interview. But, I haven’t received a response from them.
Slowly I began to help them both by studying their online presence and started giving them advice. But, they are taking any action.
One of the issues I found was when I am searching for their website it took me to a porn site 🤯.
I informed them, somebody is already using your company name for their porn website which has a .com extension which is mind-blowing.
This company has .org as a domain extension. I told them that .org is used by organizations and it will have a bad impact on the business. Hence, change the name or raise a complaint if you have a trademark registered.
Their response is Okay, we can’t change the name 🤡.
On the other hand, the person from Bangalore doesn’t even know what name to choose for his steel detailing company.
So, I took the initiative and gave him a list of names and told him that the domain names are available for these names.
After 2 weeks he was still not sure what name to choose.
Then, I told him about business registrations in India and opening an LLC in the US through Stripe.
He said that he didn’t know anything about that and he was telling me to take care of it.
I asked him how much you have.
He said he was still earning and planning to start a business. He said some freelancers are working for him to make money. And, with that money, he will start this company and earn more money 🤑.
I have been talking with them guiding them and trying to help them.
On May 2023 I am still waiting for the call letter from the company and dreaming to see action from this aspiring business owner.
But, I saw nothing that made me reconsider my journey to be an entrepreneur and join an actual startup that is working on something BIG 🔥.
On 17th June 2023. I have decided to learn code and become a software developer. Because I have realized that software is emerging into the construction industry more than ever before.
Best examples are 3D printing homes technology, Drone surveying vertical farming, and so on…
Recently many startups related to construction management, vendor maintenance, storing structure plans, etc.… have emerged in the construction industry under the name of SAAS (Software As A Service).
DO YOU KNOW?
I received my first smartphone 📱 during my B. Tech in 3rd semester and first laptop 💻 during 5th semester. So, you can say that I didn't know anything about the internet until I was 19 years old 😑.
The software was very new and alien to me Until I saw it emerging into the construction sector in the form of BIM software, Construction management tools, 3D printing homes, Drone surveying, GIS, and so on...
Deleting my LinkedIn account to become a software developer:
I used to have a LinkedIn account on which I created content and connected with many aspiring steel detailers. However, I decided to delete the account.
Why? Because I'm currently aiming for a career transition, and my LinkedIn account has become a hindrance. It was a constant source of distraction, preventing me from focusing on learning code.
In essence, LinkedIn had become my comfort zone, holding me back from personal growth and excellence.
So, I took the bold step of permanently leaving the platform to eliminate the temptation of going back and pursuing steel detailing jobs again. My true passion lies in becoming a software developer, and I am committed to achieving that goal. 💪"
You can find my past LinkedIn profile link 🔗 on my eBook regarding “business development” prepared for steel detailing companies. But, you will see the message shown below.
Then, I have started learning code:
My first programming language is Python. Yeah, that’s right. It was fun and exciting to learn that.
Yet, I have decided to start from scratch and cover all the elements from front-end to Back-end to build amazing software.
Hence, started learning HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. And, began to focus on the GitHub profile.
On 12 September 2023, I have a new LinkedIn account as a software developer starting from scratch.
Similarly, On 11 September 2023, I bought the domain name “www.codebypavan.com” to boost my journey as a front-end web developer and started this Substack blog to share my journey with you all (Including with HR worldwide 🌍. Thank you for being here) and sharing the resources and my notes with you all to make it easy for you to become a front-end web developer.
Thank you.
You said you are an aspiring entrepreneur. What happened to that?
I am glad you asked 😎.
You will find the answer in my eBook in the 9th chapter. Please, read it. I am sure you will love it.
So, this is what happened in my life from 2020 till Today, that I wanna share with you regarding my graduation, challenges, first job, and career transition.
If you like my mindset 🧠 and my work is shown above and in this blog. Please, get in touch with me 🤝 at codebypavan@gmail.com.
