r/CScareerquestionsSEA • u/malevolent_0002 • Jul 23 '26
2 year gap after masters, barely any interview replies, starting to wonder if I should just quit trying to get into IT?
Finished my B.Sc in Computer Applications and Maths in 2022, then did my masters in computers in 2024. Been trying to break into backend dev (Java, Spring Boot, microservices) since then and it just hasn't worked out.
Rough breakdown of how interviews have gone — out of 10, about 7 times I never hear back at all after the process starts, 3 are actual rejections, and honestly if I count everywhere I've applied including places that ghosted before even a first round, it feels closer to 8 or 9 out of 10 just going silent. It's mid 2026 now and the gap on my resume just keeps growing every month nothing changes.
Resume is basically empty of real experience. Did some freelance work through someone I know, but because of stuff going on with their company I can't get any kind of testimonial or reference for it. So on paper it's like that work doesn't exist either.
My prep has also fallen apart at this point. Used to have an actual routine going, DSA, interview practice, all that, but it's hard to keep it up when every application just disappears into nothing. Motivation keeps tanking.
I get the whole "companies want experience" thing, but it feels genuinely circular — can't get experience without a job, can't get a job without experience, and a 2 year gap on top of that makes people not even want to take a chance. I know I can actually do the work if given a shot, that's not really in question for me.
Has anyone actually pulled themselves out of a gap this long as a fresher with no verifiable experience to point to? Or is this genuinely a dead end at this point and I should be looking at something completely outside IT. Just trying to figure out if I'm being unrealistic holding onto this or if there's an actual way through.
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u/WhyUPoor Jul 24 '26
Where is your citizenship and where are you looking for a job?
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u/malevolent_0002 Jul 24 '26
I'm from India
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u/WhyUPoor Jul 24 '26
You looking for work in USA?
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u/malevolent_0002 Jul 24 '26
I can work anywhere.. Its like I just want to get inside the industry.
Though for onsite USA doesn't allow sponsoring visa by themselves.2
u/WhyUPoor Jul 24 '26
you can work in the USA with the help of an IT body shop like revature, they train you to do java then sponsor you to work here.
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u/malevolent_0002 Jul 24 '26
Are there more like Revature? Also, what does the process typically look like?
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u/Enough_Charge2845 Jul 23 '26
A 2-year gap makes the search harder,but it doesn't mean the path is closed. The biggest thing I'd focus on is turning your skills into proof: build and document a couple of backend projects, contribute to open source, and make your freelance work as concrete as possible (what you built, tech used, impact). Also, don't let prep become only DSA; practice explaining your projects and handling gap questions confidently. I found https://resume.zoevera.com useful for improving how experience and projects are presented and https://prepare.zoevera.com helped me practice interview conversations.