How to get placed in 2026?
There are mainly 3 paths:
1) Mass Hiring Companies
Most basic path.
Same path for both college placements and off-campus, just slightly harder off-campus.
Focus on:
- DSA
- Aptitude
- Basic CRUD-level development
For higher packages:
- DSA matters more than fancy projects
- Solve a lot of questions consistently
2) Product Companies
Two paths here:
A) Through College Placement
- Heavy DSA focus
- Strong development skills (Full Stack / Backend / Data-related)
- Some companies ask System Design too
- DSA is still the highest priority
B) Off-campus
Very hard, especially for BCA/BSc students because ATS filters many profiles.
Focus on:
- Strong development
- Build real projects
- Networking & referrals
- Personalized cold DMs
- Excellent DSA + LLD
Also:
- Avoid focusing only on DS/AI/ML for off-campus. ( imp )
- Hiring is extremely limited compared to web/backend/full stack roles
- Entry-level DS/ML roles usually prefer strong math background, MTech/BTech from top colleges, or prior experience
3) Startups
(Not including top startups or mass recruiters)
Best approach:
- Focus mainly on development
- Build things fast
- DM founders directly
- Show projects instead of resume
Internships:
- Tier 3 BTech students → try for good Indian product-based internships, PPO chances are good
- BCA/BSc students → harder because ATS filtering is brutal
- Use personalized DMs
- Ask for referrals
- If nothing works, start from service-based firms for experience
Remote internships:
- Most ₹5k/month remote internships are not very valuable in real learning or career growth
Networking:
- Grow your LinkedIn
- Connect with seniors & people already working in companies
- Stay active on X/Twitter too
GitHub:
- Should never look empty
- Commit regularly
- Build publicly
- Even private repo consistency helps - u can run fake cron for this
After AI:
DSA is STILL relevant.
Don’t listen to random Instagram creators saying coding is dead.
Start doing development + dsa now.
Experience shared by Unlocked
Still doubt https://t.me/unlocked_chat
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1May 18, 2026 27.3K 211
