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Coder’s Journey featuring Ashish Chauhan (Software Developer at Amazon)

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Coder’s journey covers the experience of programming experts across the globe. With coder’s journey, GeeksforGeeks aims to deliver practical guidance to all young programmers and assist them in launching their dream careers.

Ashish is an Engineering Graduate from NSIT, Delhi and is currently working as a Software Development Engineer 1 at Amazon. He has also worked with Mentor Graphics as a Member of Technical Staff. Ashish has also worked with GeeksforGeeks as a Technical Content Contributor and has contributed various articles for Data Structures and Algorithms.  During his college days, he had been the Lead Coordinator of the Web Team of International Society of Automation, NSIT. He believes that Growth and comfort do not coexist” which means that one has to leave their comfort zone in order to achieve something great.

When and How did “being a programmer” strike you as a perfect career choice? 

I didn’t think of being a programmer until my 2nd year of college. This is when I got to know about GeeksForGeeks from my college seniors (who were literally describing it to me as a programming Bible). Also, this is the time I got to know that the majority of the corporate that visit our campus were looking for people with Software Development skills. This is when I started thinking of exploring programming as a career option and fast-forward 4 years, here I am working as a SDE with one of the most influential Internet companies in the world.

You worked as a Technical Writer at GeeksforGeeks. How did that experience help you in your journey?

During my 3rd year at NSIT, I was into programming a lot more than I expected- I was reading algorithms, developing dynamic websites, participating in competitive programming. While I was doing all of this, I found whenever I was stuck with any concept or any piece of code, I always found GeeksforGeeks a reliable source to proceed as you could find multiple solutions with simple and crisp explanation for any particular problem and that too by people who very hands-on these concepts. 

With time when I got comfortable in dealing with complex programming tasks, I thought I should also contribute to the programming community with my solutions and algorithms. This is when I started writing on the GeeksforGeeks platform.

What was your biggest failure and what did you learn from it?

During my on-campus placement season, I was not able to crack Amazon and Microsoft. While I secured an on-campus placement with a reputed company (Mentor) which turned out to be a wonderful learning and growth experience, the thought of not being able to crack a job at Amazon and Microsoft would once in a while cross my mind.

While looking back at it now, I would not say that It was my biggest failure but rather a personal challenge that I gave to myself. So during my 1st year at Mentor, I was heavily involved with the rollout of new features to one of the leading industry products, It ultimately contributed to my C++ and Algorithmic skills. So when the stars aligned, I got a call from my Amazon recruiter that found my skills a good fit for what they were hiring for. 

All this made me realize- Good things come to those who wait!

If someone experiences a setback, It should not be a roadblock to their learning but an opportunity to go back, learn, and come back stronger than before!

 

How did you bag an offer at Amazon? Could you share some tips for the same?

As I mentioned above, I got a call from my Amazon recruiter who got my profile through Instahyre and asked whether I was interested in working with Amazon. This is how my interview process began. 

Few tips that I want to share with others from my experience are-

Keep everything simple and straightforward in your resume. One should not use complex terminology to explain their current roles and responsibility if it can be explained by easy terms.

Focus on Basics- This is the most important one. You can create your own solution to almost every problem if you have a good hold over programming and algorithms basics. 

And the last and most important thing- Have faith in your skills. As I mentioned earlier – Good things come to those who wait!. Do not feel an interview rejection as the end of the world. It is not and it never will be. Never stop learning new things. We are living in a time when new tech comes and changes the whole world around us. Learning is the only way to survive this change. 

What are some of your greatest achievements and what are your future goals? 

I would not say I have achieved great things yet but If I could list some of my personal goals that I have crossed of my list are Securing a great on-campus placement offer, Bagging a job with Amazon, and Getting recognition for my work from my peers and colleagues.

My future goals would be-

  1. Making an impact with work at Amazon
  2. Contributing to open source community

Ashish can be reached at LinkedIn

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Last Updated : 25 Jan, 2022
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