From Tier-3 College To Google: How This Techie's Years Of Quiet Grit Paid Off

(MENAFN- Live Mint) In an era dominated by overnight success stories, a software engineer's account of slow, persistent effort has struck a chord on social media. Archy Gupta, who now works at Google, has gone viral after candidly sharing how she went from a Tier-3 engineering college to securing an L4 role at the global tech giant.

In a series of Instagram posts, Gupta reflected on a journey marked not by instant breakthroughs, but by years of discipline, rejection and steady self-improvement.“Consistency looks boring while you're doing it,” she wrote, adding that visible success is often the result of“quiet effort compounding over time”.

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Gupta said her professional journey began in 2017, when she graduated from a Tier-3 college in Bhopal. Campus placements were limited, with only a few service-based companies visiting. Still, she believed her career did not have to be defined by where she started.

She took every opportunity she could find, even when it meant travelling across cities with little certainty. By November of her final year, she secured an offer from a service-based firm. While it brought some relief, Gupta said she viewed it as a stepping stone rather than the end goal.

Determined to strengthen her fundamentals, she focused on problem-solving, databases and core computer science concepts. That decision soon led to a referral for an internship at product-based software firm OpenText. Interviews were scheduled in Hyderabad, and Gupta made the move quickly, clearing the rounds and relocating within days.

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At OpenText, Gupta continued to apply for internal roles, hoping to convert her internship into a full-time position. Rejections followed, and with just days left before she was due to join the service-based company, she prepared to leave Hyderabad. Then came a turnaround - a full-time offer that changed the course of her career.

She later explored data science and completed a machine learning nanodegree, but soon realised her interest remained firmly rooted in software engineering. In 2019, Gupta received her first interview call from Google, which she did not clear. Instead of giving up, she treated it as a wake-up call.

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In 2020, she joined ServiceNow, where she committed to solving one data structures and algorithms problem every day. The habit, she said, transformed her approach to interviews.

When Google reached out again in June 2022, Gupta felt prepared. Months of interviews followed, stretching into October, before she finally received the email she had been waiting for.

Today, she works at Google as an L4 software engineer - a milestone she attributes not to luck, but to years of consistency and persistence.

Social media response

Gupta's story has resonated widely online, with users praising her honesty and calling her journey relatable and motivating, especially for students from smaller colleges navigating India's competitive tech landscape.

A user wrote,“Hats off to you mam for your hard work and consistency!”

Another user wrote,“You are an inspiration, Archy.”

“You are really hardworking girl. I love your hard work,” the third user wrote.

(This report is based on user-generated content from social media. Livemint has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)

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