For many Indian students who dream of becoming engineers, earning a seat at an IIT is often seen as the biggest milestone. But does missing that target really decide the future? A viral story shared by an Indian tech professional is now making many people rethink that idea.
Amit Dutta, a software engineer currently living in London, has opened up about his path from exam disappointment to a senior opportunity at Meta. In an Instagram video, he spoke about rejection, hard work and steady progress.
Dutta said that in 2018, he was unable to clear the IIT entrance exam, one of India’s most competitive academic tests. For thousands of students each year, success in that exam is linked to prestige and opportunity, which can make failure feel especially difficult.
Recalling that period, he wrote, “In 2018, I failed to crack IIT. I watched my classmates post their IIT acceptances while I sat in a campus that most people had never heard of.”
Instead of staying focused on that setback, Dutta said he chose to redirect his energy towards improving himself and building technical skills. He added, “But I made a decision that changed everything. I stopped mourning the college I didn’t get and started becoming the engineer no college could take credit for.”
That approach, he suggested, became the real starting point of his career journey. The next challenge came in 2021 when he applied for a Microsoft internship. According to Dutta, he spent weeks preparing for the process but did not receive the offer. He recalled, “I prepared for weeks and gave it everything, but I was rejected. That rejection broke something in me, but it also rebuilt something.”
His efforts then led to a breakthrough in 2022 when he secured a full-time position at Google. For many engineers, such a role would be a major end goal. However, Dutta said he remained determined to keep moving forward. He explained, “I could have coasted, most people do, but I had a chip on my shoulder the size of that IIT rejection letter.”
During the following two years, he said he focused on learning, performance and gaining broader experience. His work also gave him international exposure, including a business trip to Singapore and travel to other countries.
Another major opportunity arrived when Meta contacted him for a role in its London office. Dutta said he went through six rounds of interviews before being selected. He later moved to London after accepting the offer. According to his post, the compensation package was worth Rs 1.7 crore.
“I moved to London with a 1.7 crore salary, going from a tier-2 college nobody had heard of to a life I couldn’t have even imagined in 2018,” he wrote. Since being shared online, the post has received strong reactions from users who said it offers hope to students under pressure from entrance exams and college rankings.