A 23-year-old software engineer from a small town in Northeast India has turned rejection into a career breakthrough. After facing more than 500 job rejections, he landed an OpenAI project that paid him Rs 20 lakh per month, and that too while working remotely.
The techie, the first in his family to complete a BTech in Computer Science, started with a modest campus placement at Rs 3.6 lakh per annum. But the offer came with an eight-month waiting period. Instead of waiting, he applied to over 500-600 remote international jobs.
“Rejection after rejection for months,” he recalled in a viral Reddit post. “Out of all those applications, I got just one interview call—and somehow, I cleared it.”
That single break changed his life. The OpenAI-linked project gave him global exposure, financial freedom, and the confidence to dream bigger.
EARNING RS 20 LAKH PER MONTH FROM HOME
The project offered him Rs 20 lakh monthly—an unimaginable leap from his first placement package. He said he worked day and night, slept just 4–5 hours, and disconnected from everything else to give his best.
“Remote work proved to me that geography doesn’t matter if you have skills and internet access,” he shared.
A NEW JOURNEY AS A FOUNDER
The OpenAI project wrapped up in August, but the journey is far from over. At just 23, he is now building his own tech firm.
His advice for students in small towns is direct: “Don’t settle for good enough. Apply everywhere, build in public, and network relentlessly.”
His story proves that with persistence and skill, even students from tier-3 cities can break into global opportunities.