As job opportunities in the tech sector become more limited due to widespread layoffs, professionals entering or re-entering the workforce are looking for ways to stand out. Ritvika Nagula, now a senior software engineer at Microsoft Azure, offers a blueprint for job seekers based on her own experience. Just months after graduating in 2018, she received job offers from Microsoft, Amazon, eBay, and another major tech firm. Her strategy involved more than just technical skills—it was about how she presented them on her resume and approached the application process.
Resume Over Cover Letter
Nagula told Business Insider that for software engineering roles, the resume matters far more than a cover letter. She tailored hers to highlight all relevant experiences at the top, including internships and short-term roles such as a seven-month co-op. She made sure to structure her resume in a way that recruiters could immediately assess her capabilities.
She also recommended categorizing projects clearly—separating academic, internship, and personal work—and including the tools and programming languages used in each. This not only gave recruiters a full picture of her technical proficiency but also reflected her attention to detail.
Highlight Personal Projects
One of Nagula’s suggestions was to add personal side projects to show initiative and genuine interest in the field. For example, she built a Facebook chatbot using the GoodReads API to fetch book summaries. Including such work showed she went beyond classroom assignments and explored real-world applications independently.
Use GitHub as a Portfolio
She also placed a strong emphasis on using GitHub effectively. Nagula added her GitHub link to her resume and ensured that all her major projects were publicly available with clean, understandable code. This allowed recruiters to evaluate her skills firsthand—something that set her apart from candidates who only described their work without sharing any code.
Combine Cold Applications with Networking
Her job hunt combined cold applications on platforms like LinkedIn and company career pages with direct outreach to employees and hiring managers. This two-pronged approach improved her chances of getting noticed and helped her build connections that turned into referrals and interviews.
Understand the Fundamentals, Don’t Rely on AI Alone
Nagula also addressed the increasing use of AI tools in coding. While acknowledging their usefulness, she warned against overreliance on them. She stressed that understanding the fundamentals of coding is still necessary and that relying too much on AI might hinder deeper learning and problem-solving skills.
About Ritvika Nagula
According to her LinkedIn profile, Nagula holds a Master's degree in Computer and Information Sciences from Northeastern University and a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the National Institute of Technology, Raipur. Before joining Microsoft, she interned in machine learning at Trifacta and worked as a teaching assistant in discrete mathematics, roles that added valuable depth to her resume.
Her guidance comes at a time when the Indian tech industry is experiencing significant cutbacks. As reported by The Times of India, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has laid off more than 12,000 employees, and further reductions are expected, according to industry group Nasscom. Nitin Bhatt, a technology sector leader at EY India, noted that even though around 1.2 lakh jobs were added in FY25, the outlook for FY26 remains uncertain.
Resume Over Cover Letter
Nagula told Business Insider that for software engineering roles, the resume matters far more than a cover letter. She tailored hers to highlight all relevant experiences at the top, including internships and short-term roles such as a seven-month co-op. She made sure to structure her resume in a way that recruiters could immediately assess her capabilities.
She also recommended categorizing projects clearly—separating academic, internship, and personal work—and including the tools and programming languages used in each. This not only gave recruiters a full picture of her technical proficiency but also reflected her attention to detail.
Highlight Personal Projects
One of Nagula’s suggestions was to add personal side projects to show initiative and genuine interest in the field. For example, she built a Facebook chatbot using the GoodReads API to fetch book summaries. Including such work showed she went beyond classroom assignments and explored real-world applications independently.
Use GitHub as a Portfolio
She also placed a strong emphasis on using GitHub effectively. Nagula added her GitHub link to her resume and ensured that all her major projects were publicly available with clean, understandable code. This allowed recruiters to evaluate her skills firsthand—something that set her apart from candidates who only described their work without sharing any code.
Combine Cold Applications with Networking
Her job hunt combined cold applications on platforms like LinkedIn and company career pages with direct outreach to employees and hiring managers. This two-pronged approach improved her chances of getting noticed and helped her build connections that turned into referrals and interviews.
Understand the Fundamentals, Don’t Rely on AI Alone
Nagula also addressed the increasing use of AI tools in coding. While acknowledging their usefulness, she warned against overreliance on them. She stressed that understanding the fundamentals of coding is still necessary and that relying too much on AI might hinder deeper learning and problem-solving skills.
About Ritvika Nagula
According to her LinkedIn profile, Nagula holds a Master's degree in Computer and Information Sciences from Northeastern University and a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the National Institute of Technology, Raipur. Before joining Microsoft, she interned in machine learning at Trifacta and worked as a teaching assistant in discrete mathematics, roles that added valuable depth to her resume.
Her guidance comes at a time when the Indian tech industry is experiencing significant cutbacks. As reported by The Times of India, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has laid off more than 12,000 employees, and further reductions are expected, according to industry group Nasscom. Nitin Bhatt, a technology sector leader at EY India, noted that even though around 1.2 lakh jobs were added in FY25, the outlook for FY26 remains uncertain.
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