Ishwar proves that anyone can become a Developer with a little leap of faith
Ishwar Kumar is one of those ‘Pandemic graduates’, about which there already are plenty of jokes that go around as memes on the internet. But he is not an engineering graduate, nor does he come from a Tier 1 institution. He hails from a small town called Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh, and graduated in Computer Applications (BCA and MCA both) from Himachal Pradesh University in Shimla.
The Placements drive in college did not lead to a single job opportunity and Ishwar was already applying for opportunities online. An enthusiast of mobile apps since 2014, his LinkedIn summary only goes to signify his passion for mobile app development and how committed he had been. Despite having done a Master’s in Computer Applications with a sole goal to become a developer, he was not in a place to apply any of his knowledge and skills. He also took an Android course in between college from a local institute which turned out to be in vain.
Besides, there was an urge to support his family since he had already graduated both in Bachelor’s and Master’s and he could not stay unemployed for too long.
While the pandemic was in full swing, finding jobs was not entirely in control of the employees. There was an internship that offered to pay him Rs. 5,000 for tedious work hours. At the same time, Ishwar happened to stumble upon Masai School and the concept of Income-Share Agreement, through which he did not have to pay any upfront fee.
Though it seemed as if it was too good to be true, it was still an alien concept and Ishwar had to choose between letting go of the internship offer and Masai School. He was not entirely sure if the firm would even pay him for the internship.
Considering the fact that he had the option to leave the course in the first month or first unit if he didn’t think it was worth it, Ishwar decided to give Masai a shot and see how it would pan out.
He informed his parents of the same that he would be occupied with Masai for the next 30 weeks, and took their support. It seemed like an uncertain path and a step without a specific destination towards its end but Ishwar admits that his parents are delighted to see him now placed at NoBroker as an Android Developer.
Besides, it was also a personal dream for Ishwar to be at where he is today. He now gets paid at more than 8x the salary he was offered before Masai School.
The ISA Payments System
To reduce the burden of student loans for engineering students, Masai operates on an Income Share Agreement (ISA) where the students pay zero upfront cost. Once they graduate from the course, the students will pay back 15 percent of their monthly income for 36 months, or until they reach a maximum capped amount of INR 3 lac.
However, the Income Share Agreement is applicable only when the students get a job offer with a package of INR 5 LPA or more.