From a food delivery boy to a Node.js developer

Computers had fascinated him from childhood. But financial constraints meant Aman Kashyap could not go to a full-time college. He sat for the JEE a couple of times, but did not qualify. For a while, to help his father support the family, he worked at a leather factory in Kanpur, looking after the quality of leather being exported.

While he was working, he got admission to the government polytechnic institute in Uttar Pradesh for textile engineering. But he realised he didn't care for textile engineering, and dropped out after two semesters. He became a full-time delivery executive at Swiggy. But all the time, he kept his eyes and ears open for opportunities that would lead him to the technology world.

One day, a friend told him about online upskilling platform Masai School. He thought of doing a short-term course in full-stack web development. Masai offers the advantage of not paying any fee till the candidate gets placed. That was a huge attraction, but convincing the family was tough.

"I was making Rs 15,000 a month at the factory and then as a delivery boy. This was a substantial amount for us. The family was scared to think of a situation where that money wouldn't come home," Aman says. He finally made them understand that the course would help bring home more money.

He completed the one-year course at Masai, and then did two short internships - at The Sparks Foundation, which helps students innovate, and at Sync Intern's, a social media marketing company. In January, he got a full-time job as a software development engineer at Swiggy. From being a delivery boy at Swiggy once, he had become a Node.js developer at the company.

As a delivery executive, Aman often had to go out even when the weather was harsh. His wish at that point was for technology to tip the delivery executive about the weather.

"Now, the Swiggy app has this feature. They introduced this around the time I joined. I know actual business problems since I've been on the other side. Hopefully, someday I will climb the ranks to solve them using my coding skills," he says.

Edtech platforms, he says, are a good alternative to regular colleges for those who want to learn coding. But, he says, the courses teach you only the basics. "So, read up material on the internet. There is a lot available. Go back to the original source. For instance, I specialised in Java. The Java website gives me insight into the world of Java technologies. Getting in-depth into any technology is our own business," Aman says.

Has his lack of a college education put him at a disadvantage vis-a-vis his peers? 'No,' he says. What's crucial, he says, are practical training and strong communication skills. "I appeared for half-a-dozen placement tests. While I cleared all the technical rounds, communication was a problem. Nobody trains you in that. One must focus on soft skills as well," he says.

As for his interview with Swiggy, Aman remembers being asked only about his technical skills and nothing about his journey as a delivery executive. When he mentioned his previous job with Swiggy, the interviewers felt he would be a good fit because of his knowledge of the business.



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