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  "path": "/cobra_kai_/self-taught-final-year-and-honestly-asking-for-guidance-52jm",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-21T19:23:27.000Z",
  "site": "https://dev.to",
  "tags": [
    "career",
    "discuss",
    "interview",
    "learning"
  ],
  "textContent": "Quick context: final-year CS student, self-teaching full-stack via 100xDevs. College isn't teaching me real dev skills, so I'm doing it myself.\n\nWhat I've built so far:\n\nCounter App, Todo CRUD API, Users API, Hospital API\nBooks API — fully solo, no help\nAuth Server with JWT (signup/login/middleware/protected routes)\n4 LeetCode done, targeting 50+ by August\n\nThe actual problem:\nI understand the concepts. But in interview settings, I freeze and under-explain things I know. Just had a mock interview come back \"borderline, not selected\" — not a knowledge gap, a communication-under-pressure gap.\n\nTarget: fresher dev role (10LPA) by September 2026. Clock's ticking.\n\nAsking the community:\n\nHow do you go from \"I understand it\" → \"I can explain it confidently live\"?\nHiring managers — what made a self-taught fresher stand out to you, beyond GitHub repos?\nShould I sequence learning differently, or just keep shipping (MongoDB → Course Selling App → TS project next)?\n\nNot asking for sympathy — I show up daily either way. Asking for advice from people who've actually done this or hired for it.\n\nDrop your take in the comments 🙏",
  "title": "Self-Taught, Final Year, and Honestly Asking for Guidance"
}