Why did you decide to become a mentor?
I became a mentor because I know how influential good mentorship can be. I've also experienced how lack of mentorship can be detrimental to one's career: specially early in your career.
During my time as a SWE at Google, I saw firsthand how the hiring process actually works and how opaque it is from the outside.
Mentoring lets me bridge that gap. I enjoy helping people turn effort into results by focusing on the right things and avoiding common traps.
How did you get started on your career?
I was fortunate enough to REALLY enjoy solving LeetCode style problems. I participated in many competitive programming competitions from TopCoder, Codeforces, and ACM ICPC. I built strong DSA fundamentals, and learned how to interview well, which allowed me to obtain really good opportunities like internships at IBM and Microsoft, and full-time gig at Google.
My path wasn't perfectly linear though: I had spent too much time focusing on interview preparation that I ignored what it takes to succeed as a software engineer. This lead me to having unsuccessful internships. But these failures led me to seek the right guidance and mentorship at Google.
Proud to say that I learned and grew a lot as a SWE those first couple of years, and was able to get promoted all the way to staff level at Google.
What do you mentorship sessions look like?
Sessions will be highly practical and tailored to where you are in your career.
There's no generic curriculum. I come in with structure and direction, but the session will be driven by your goals and blockers. I aim to provide action items and clear next steps so that you have a good understanding of how to accomplish your goals.
Who benefits most from working with you?
I work best with motivated students, new grads, and early career software engineers who are either job searching, or looking to get promoted.
If you are looking for honest feedback and someone who understands both the technical and strategic sides of hiring, you'll get a lot of value from working with me.
How does your background as a hiring interviewer influence your coaching?
It shapes everything. I come from a perspective of someone who has reviewed resumes, run interviews, and participated in hiring decisions. I am not just someone who has "been through the process."
What do you enjoy most about mentoring?
The moment things "click" for someone. When a mentee realizes why they weren't getting interviews, or why their interview answers weren't landing, and suddenly everything feels more manageable.
I enjoy seeing people gain confidence. The job search can be overwhelming, and helping someone feel more in control of the process feels very rewarding.
