Vivekananda, an IIT Hyderabad alumnus, secured admission to IIM Ahmedabad after declining an Amazon job offer and navigating setbacks in the UPSC Civil Services Examination. His journey highlights the role of adaptability and strategic career planning in professional growth.
The career trajectory of Vivekananda, a 2021 Computer Science and Engineering graduate from IIT Hyderabad, serves as a case study in professional adaptation. His path, which involved rejecting a Software Development Engineer offer from Amazon to pursue public service, reflects the common challenges faced by high-potential graduates when balancing personal goals with conventional career expectations.
His primary focus was the UPSC Civil Services Examination. Between 2022 and 2025, he made three attempts at this highly competitive examination. Although he successfully cleared the preliminary stage each time, he was unable to secure a place in the final merit list. This period, spanning approximately four years, highlights the significant time investment and inherent risks involved in pursuing career paths with low success rates, such as government service.
Following these results, he adapted his strategy to leverage his existing skill set. He prepared for and cleared the Staff Selection Commission Combined Graduate Level (SSC CGL) examination in 2025, taking a role as a Customs Inspector. This transition demonstrated the utility of having a 'plan B' that aligns with one's aptitude, in this case, his proficiency in mathematics and logic, which are valuable assets in both government examinations and private sector assessments.
His final pivot involved the Common Admission Test (CAT), the gateway to India’s top management institutes. Despite having only 45 days to prepare, his previous academic foundation and analytical background helped him achieve a 99.92 percentile in the CAT 2025 exam. This performance ultimately led to his admission to the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad.
For professionals and students, this journey underscores the importance of resilience when initial career plans face obstacles. The ability to shift focus—from technical software development to public service, and finally to management education—highlights that career stability in the modern economic landscape often depends on the ability to re-skill and pivot quickly when one path becomes non-viable. The key monitorable for such career transitions remains the impact of long preparation gaps on one's resume, which requires careful planning to mitigate.