Hi Reader, A lot of international students work extremely hard. The problem is they spend years focusing on the wrong priorities. And honestly, it’s understandable. Because the hardest problems in your life are usually the ones you don’t yet know how to solve. So instead, you focus on the easier ones. You redesign your resume for the 19th time. You buy another course. You apply to 300 more jobs. You keep tweaking LinkedIn banners and fonts. Because those things feel productive. But deep down,...
4 days ago • 4 min read
Hey Reader, Yudi here, I did a live session with Aman - an AI Product Manager who got laid off on OPT and landed a new role in 40 days in one of the toughest hiring markets we've seen. You can watch the full session here → Podcast Link But if you want the distilled version with everything that matters - keep reading. This is Aman. AI engineer background. Published researcher. Came to the US with zero PM experience - didn't even know what a product manager was before grad school. He worked...
8 days ago • 5 min read
Hi Reader, Yudi here, Over the last 12 years in the US, I've seen international students land amazing jobs in terrible markets. And I've seen incredibly smart people struggle for months. That's why I've stopped believing there's only one correct way to job hunt. Some people apply to 20 jobs and network deeply. Some apply to 2,000 and cast the widest net possible. Some wake up at 5am and grind LeetCode every single day. Some get jobs through one random coffee chat that went somewhere. Some...
11 days ago • 6 min read
Hey Reader, Yudi here, Aditya had 10+ interview calls and was converting almost none of them. He was a solid engineer. Two years of work experience in India. A master's from SUNY Binghamton. Good at DSA. Still wasn't working. What was missing wasn't skill. It was strategy. Here's the full job search system he used to eventually crack Microsoft - broken down into actions you can take this week. BEFORE YOU APPLY: FIX YOUR FOUNDATION Most people start the job search by opening LinkedIn and...
15 days ago • 8 min read
Hi Reader, Yudi here, A few days ago, inside my accelerator, we spent a full session on one thing: Interview prep using AI. Not "tell me about yourself." But something most people never think about: How do you walk into an interview already thinking like the team? Here's what I've seen after reviewing hundreds of candidates as a hiring manager. Most people lose interviews before they even say a word. Because they sound like outsiders. The real problem with how most people prep You've probably...
18 days ago • 5 min read
Hi Reader, Yudi here, You apply. You wait. You see "application viewed." Then nothing. Sound familiar? Here is the problem. Applying through a portal puts you in a pile with 400 other people. And if you are an international student, the sponsorship filter often removes you before any human even reads your name. The students who are actually getting interviews are not applying more. They are reaching the HR contact or hiring manager directly. Today I am going to show you exactly how to do that...
22 days ago • 6 min read
Hi Reader, Yudi here, My first salary in America was $65,000. I felt rich. Coming from India, that number felt unreal. I was finally here. I had made it. I was making good money and quietly falling behind at the same time. The hard part is that none of these mistakes feel like mistakes when you are making them. They feel like being responsible. After 12 years of living this and talking to hundreds of NRIs who landed here just like I did, I can tell you: the same five mistakes show up every...
25 days ago • 7 min read
Hey Reader, Yudi here, A few days ago I was at a FinTech conference. Just sitting down and having real conversations with people who are actually making hiring decisions right now. PMs, engineering managers, data leaders from companies like Goldman Sachs and Discover. I asked all of them the same question: what actually matters in hiring right now? And what I heard was not what I expected. Because the playbook most candidates are using today is not just outdated. It is actively working...
29 days ago • 6 min read
Hey Reader, Yudi here, Quick question before you read this. When you applied to your masters program - did you know exactly which companies you wanted to intern at? Aryak did. He wrote Tesla into his Statement of Purpose at Purdue MEM. Told the program director, Eric, during the admissions interview: "If you admit me, here's what my internship journey is going to look like." 9 months later - Tesla. Then Panasonic. Then Tesla again. Zero prior work experience. Chemical engineering background....
about 1 month ago • 4 min read