He Applied to 900 Jobs and Got 1 Offer — Job Hunt Reality in 2025
Apr 16, 2025
When Bala Praneeth Reddy moved to the U.S. in 2021,
he didn’t know he’d be graduating straight into one of the worst job markets in tech history.
– no one was hiring.
– hiring freezes were everywhere.
– even big companies were ghosting candidates left and right.
But rewind to 2021, Bala had one goal:
→ Break into cybersecurity. No matter how hard it gets.
He chose UNCC Charlotte not because it was a “Tier 1” school,
but because their cybersecurity program was good:
– Strong focus on real-world fundamentals
– Hands-on lab exposure across red team, blue team & more
– A program that gave him a solid technical foundation
Bala’s story isn’t your typical success story.
This is about brutal effort, strategic networking,
and applying to 900+ jobs before one finally landed.
– He didn’t come from a top school.
– He didn’t have elite experience.
But what he did have was consistency, skill, and insane clarity.
In 2025, Bala works as an Information Security Engineer.
after completing a long co-op at IBM and building his profile from scratch.
In this edition, you’ll learn:
→ is a lesser-known university worth it?
→ the resume strategy he used for niche roles
→ full-time job hunt strategy (that didn’t rely on referrals)
→ why Bala applied to 900+ places and why most of us give up way too early
→ how he used security meetups to build real relationships and land interviews
This story is for anyone feeling stuck in the job market.
Especially if you're not from a top college or don't have big connections.
Let’s go!
► Phase 1: picking the right program
Back in 2021, Bala chose to pursue his Master’s in Cybersecurity from UNCC Charlotte, a school that doesn’t show up on many “Top 10” lists.
But Bala didn’t chase the brand.
He chased the curriculum.
→ Why he picked UNCC:
- solid hands-on training across red team & blue team
- real-world cybersecurity labs (not just theory)
- decent tuition and strong fundamentals
- enough cpt flexibility for long-term co-op
→ His Profile before MS:
- BTech from Karunya University (CGPA: 8.3)
- 1–2 years of freelance + internship experience (Bugcrowd, DevOps, ML)
- strong personal interest in ethical hacking & security
- obsession with cybersecurity.
► Phase 2: internship strategy (from 3 applications a day → 30 a day)
Unlike others who wait till graduation panic hits…
Bala started applying in January 2022, just 4 months into his masters.
I know I say this every newsletter, but start early, please. I say it so often, and yet, I see students putting this essential task off until later. I say the same thing, along with many strategies on how to job hunt as an international student, in my ultimate job hunting course.
And it’s not just limited to job hunting, you’ll see dedicated modules on resumes, networking, applications, and everything you need.
→ First few weeks:
he applied to 2-3 jobs/day → got no results
started seeing rejections 20–25 days later
and realized it was time to scale
So, in February, he changed gears:
→ applied to 30 jobs/day
→ treated it like a part-time job (3-4 hours/day)
→ built 8 custom resumes for specific security roles:
- red team
- blue team
- purple team
- network security
- Infosec
- DevsecOps
- GRC
- general cybersecurity
→ Key Tactic:
> For every quality role, he’d customize the resume based on the JD.
> The other 10/day? He just went with the version that aligned the most and here are the results:
– Rejected by 880+ companies.
– 20 callbacks.
– 4 interviews.
– 1 internship from IBM.
► Phase 3: IBM Co-op & optimizing CPT smartly
He didn’t just do a 3-month internship and then started the hunting process again.
Here’s how he made it count:
→ landed IBM internship in Summer 2022
→ performed well & got extended 6 more months for Fall 2022
→ partly replaced a course with internship credits
→ extended again into Spring 2023
→ did a 1-year Co-op at IBM (3 semesters!)
→ total work experience: 12 months
→ got enough to cover almost his entire expenses
This was crucial.
Because when 2023 came…
Hiring freezes. Layoffs.
IBM didn’t convert to full-time.
But Bala already had something most grads didn’t: a full year of U.S. experience.
► Phase 4: full-time hunt (without referrals)
As he was graduating in May 2023, Bala knew he had to stand out.
So in December 2022, he launched a completely different job-hunting strategy:
Btw, I teach this and more strategies in my ultimate job hunting course. Bala’s story is an awesome example of how a good strategy can help you stand out. 1800+ students are regularly learning from my insights, we’ve got dedicated modules on each element of job hunting.
→ Cybersecurity Meetups (not job fairs!)
- started attending BSides, a global security conference series
- every weekend, he’d show up and network
- he was there to connect, learn, and build trust
This was his strategy:
→ Day 1: Build Rapport
→ Day 2: Ask for resume review
For this, he:
–printed resumes
– walked up to managers, directors, engineers
– asked them to review his resume, not “refer” him
– took feedback, followed up with LinkedIn messages
– built actual relationships & they worked for him.
→ Result:
One hiring manager loved his clarity → Interviewed him
– Landed his full-time role
– Currenty, he works at U.S. B—ank as InfoSec Engineer (Purple Team)
► Phase 5: the cybersecurity stack (what he actually learned)
→ Skills:
- Learned Python inside-out
- Built strong foundations in OS, Networks, and Cloud
- Hands-on labs via TryHackMe, HackTheBox, Let’sDefend
- Did VDP programs on Bugcrowd for practical vulnerability hunting
- Played CTFs to master attack-defense simulations
- Worked on Active Directory, web app vulnerabilities, and red/blue teaming
→ Certs he recommends:
- TCM Security (strong learning curve)
- Offensive Security (advanced, real-world labs)
- Vendor-neutral over vendor-specific early on (e.g., CCNA, AWS)
→ Interview Prep:
- Practiced architecture & scenario-based questions
- Studied CVEs, OWASP top 10
- Practiced defending against vulnerabilities & documenting attacks
From Bala’s story, it is very clear what you need to thrive during your job hunt is:
→ Real skills
→ Relentless effort
→ Smart strategy
→ And 900 applications worth of patience(yep, a lot of patience)
Bala did it.
So can you.
-Yudi J