'Failed JEE, couldn’t get into IIT': Walmart techie who cracked interviews with over 13 companies

After failing to get into IIT, Riti Kumari also considered taking GATE, but gave up the idea soon. (Image credit: @riti2409/Twitter)

Riti Kumari scored a 9.6 CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) in Class 10, secured 91 percent in Class 12, and CGPA in college. That, however, did not guarantee her a seat in one of the country's most prestigious institutions -- the IIT.

She failed the JEE and could not get into IIT. After feeling lost for about a year, Kumari decided to make the best out of the situation and look for other career options. Now, the software developer from Jharkhand is completing a year in the corporate industry after having received job offers from more than 13 companies. She currently works with Walmart.

Recollecting the time when she failed to get into IIT, Kumari wrote on Twitter, "This was the moment I realised I can’t do anything in my life. I didn’t want my father to spend so much on me so took admission to a govt college."

During her first year in college, Kumari could not get over the regret of not making it to the IIT. She thought of preparing for GATE ( Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering) but realised that she wasn't really interested in higher education if it wasn't from IIT.

That's when another alternative occurred to her while browsing LinkedIn. "I came to LinkedIn and started seeing (requirements for) software developers at xyz, coding, DSA (data structures and algorithms) and much more. I thought of exploring that avenue and then the journey kept on going," Kumari said. "Gave my first interview at Accolite and cracked it. It was fully based on DSA and coding. And after that cracked (interviews) at more than 13 companies."

Taking to Twitter to mark her first year as a corporate official, Kumari added, "All this seemed a dream to me... The motive behind sharing this story is that I have seen people getting demotivated, lost, confused, and depressed. Let's normalise this, each one of us has been through these situations and emerged as a better person."

Kumari also said that not making it to IIT no longer hurts her. "Now it doesn’t bother me. I work at a place where most of the people are from top-tier colleges," she wrote.

Her story appeared to resonate with other Twitter users.

"My story -81 percent in Class 10, 69 percent in Class 12, failed in JEE twice,
joining govt college in this year. After all this one thing I am happy about is that now I will do what I wanted to do out of my freedom not through compulsion or fear," commented Ankit (@ANKITKr95240811).

Another Twitter user Manjot Kaur (@kaurmanjot20) wrote, "That's so inspiring. I scored 98 percent in Class 10 and 93 percent in Class 12. But didn't clear JEE (missed the cutoff by 2 percentile). Let's see what the destiny unfolds."