‘I had a lot of fun organising the university festival online during COVID-19’

Hailing from Rewari, Haryana, Neeraj Sharma, who is working as a software developer in an organisation that has a grave-yard shift, says that enrolling for BTech in Computer Science at Apeejay Stya University, School of Engineering and Technology has opened up a world that he can explore.

“I am young and can experiment, explore, and even take risks with my professional career. Once I have a few years under my belt needed as work experience, I am planning to pursue study abroad and see the world. I think the US still offers plenty of job opportunities for those who are best,” Sharma said.

Excerpts from an interview.

How and why did you take admission to Apeejay Stya University (ASU)?

I wanted to pursue Computer Science. I had looked at plenty of institutes before I chose ASU. There were a few reasons. The most important one was that it made it possible for me to remain a day scholar. It also meant that I got a car to commute to ASU (laughs). I had great company as I drove back and forth. I made some great friends at ASU, Sadly, I am not in touch with all of them.

Where are you working at present?

I passed out of ASU in 2020-21. And while ASU has a good placement cell I decided to look for a job myself. I was looking for something specific and a company that was closer to where I live. For this, I interned for three months. It was a good learning experience. The company then observed me and I ended up working there for 11 months. But I wanted to experiment and shifted to my present organisation.

The only downside is that I have a graveyard shift; this means that I can only catch six hours of sleep during the day even though I would love to sleep longer hours.

What is your job profile?

At present, it is not something that I would like to rave about. But it involves meeting with clients and providing them with solutions to their problems that they may have. We also work with other team members on any project that may come our way and coordinate the same among ourselves. On the whole, I am having fun.

Why did you choose Computer Science?

I took Science (non-medical) when I was in school because I was clear from a young age that I wanted to pursue Computer Science. There is so much scope and growth opportunities in their field. The sector is extremely dynamic and the sky’s the limit as far as salary packages are concerned if you are brilliant at your work.

I understand that you want to go for higher studies in the US. Have you zeroed in on the university?

It is not as if I am all set and done with the paperwork. At present, I am concentrating on gaining some work experience. It will help me get into a good university – I want to study at the University of Pennsylvania. My ultimate dream is to work in Silicon Valley. It may be clichéd but it is the dream of every software developer to work there; I am no different.

Can you share some memories from ASU?

There are not very many. Since a majority of the time was spent studying online due to the lockdown when COVID-19 hit. However, I was part of a 14-member committee that organised the festival online. We organised a few quiz competitions in which students participated. Organising a semi-festival online was a bit of a challenge though. We had to send fliers online to students so that they could participate. We spent hours on this. But at the end of the day, it was worth all the time that we spent, the festival was quite successful and appreciated by one and all.

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My ultimate dream is to work in Silicon Valley. It may be clichéd but it is the dream of every software developer to work there; I am no different

–Neeraj Sharma, Software Developer