Shark Tank India’s Anupam Mittal reflects on early career struggles; says”800 applications, 65 interviews, and the power of persistence"

Anupam Mittal, founder and CEO of a matrimonial site, recently shared a LinkedIn post reflecting on the challenges he faced early in his career, including the extensive effort it took to land his first job.


"I had to make over 800 applications and sit through 65 interviews before landing my first job. Sounds insane, but that was my reality when I graduated in the US during a recession," he wrote. Mittal eventually secured an entry-level position as a programmer, a job he admitted he “hated every minute of.”


Drawing from his experience, he offered advice to those facing similar career struggles: "To every struggler out there, the road is tough, but every 'no' gets us closer to a yes, and that one 'yes' has the power to change everything in our lives." He encouraged people to stay persistent, adding, "Keep pushing, keep learning, and keep fighting for what you deserve because our breakthroughs are out there. Sometimes they just need a little time to find us."


His post read, “I had to make >800 applications and sit through 65 interviews before landing my first job.Sounds insane but that was my reality when I graduated in the US - during a recession!The job market was brutal, and every door seemed to be slammed shut—especially in the tech and VC industry, where I desperately wanted to work.And unfortunately, I wasn’t from Harvard, Yale or Stanford or any other Ivy League.I watched as others walked into jobs I knew I was capable of doing, and honestly, it drove me nuts. Every application, email, and interview hit a dead end.But quitting was never on the table although I was dead-broke and finding it hard to make ends meet.”


He further said, “So, when Y2K came around and COBOL became a hot skill, I rolled up my sleeves & taught myself basic mainframe coding.Eventually, landed an entry-level job as a COBOL programmer with Keane – I hated every minute of it ��Fortunately, just before I completely lost my mind, I got a call from MicroStrategy in Boston and was quickly hired as a pre-sales consultant.But I knew the real action was in their Washington D.C. HQ.”


Concluding the post, he wrote, “So, I took a shot in the dark and wrote directly to Michael Saylor the founder & CEO, asking for a role in their new venture Strategy.comI got the role �� > Moved to D.C. > 2 years later, I was Director of Strategic Partnerships at a company that was the toast of Wall Street and darling of the tech world����We went from a $100m to $40b mkt cap in that time. Yeah, let that sink in��That job & my time in the US shaped me into who I am today, But here’s the thing - this struggle wasn't just about landing a job- it was also about proving to myself that I was as good as the best.To every struggler out there, the road is tough, but every "no" gets us closer to a yes, and that one "yes" has the power to change everything in our lives. So, keep pushing, keep learning, and keep fighting for what you deserve coz our breakthroughs are out there. Sometimes they just need a little time to find us.”