u/Full_Today_4995

22M, graduating this month. Scored 45 in GATE (~6.3k rank), missed PGEE due to self doubt, and also lost a 7 LPA opportunity after fumbling HR.

Now I’m confused about the smartest next step.

I’m planning to prepare seriously for GATE 2027, but I also don’t want to stay unemployed for a whole year. My profile right now is average:

• no strong internship
• only a college research internship
• no job offer currently

People who were in a similar position:

• Did you take any job while preparing for GATE?
• Is taking a low paying/dev/support role worth it just for experience?
• How realistic is balancing job prep + GATE prep together?
• What helped you recover after missing opportunities due to hesitation/self doubt?

Would appreciate practical advice from people who actually rebuilt from this stage.

I turn 23 this September and honestly I feel very lost right now.

I just passed out of college this May. I didn’t do any great internship either, just a research internship in college itself. I gave GATE 2026 with decent prep and scored 45 marks with around 6375 rank, so realistically I don’t think I’ll get anything good from it.

What hurts more is that because of self doubt and fear, I didn’t even appear for PGEE. One of my friends got around 47 marks and cleared it. I’m genuinely happy for her, but at the same time it keeps hitting me that maybe I could have done it too if I had just tried instead of doubting myself so much.

And then I also fumbled an HR interview for a 7 LPA job because I got nervous and messed it up.

So now I’m sitting here with:

• no job
• no good college
• regret of not trying properly at the right time
• preparing for GATE again
• feeling behind everyone around me

The thing is I know I’m not completely useless or lazy. I do work. But somehow whenever an important moment comes, I hesitate, overthink, lose confidence and then regret it later.

I’m planning to go for GATE again seriously, but at the same time I don’t want to stay jobless for another whole year because mentally this phase already feels terrible. But my current profile also feels too weak for good opportunities right now.

Did anyone else go through a phase like this around 22-23? How did you recover from feeling like you messed up your own chances?

I just feel very stuck at this stage of life right now.

I just passed out of college this May. I didn’t do any great internship either, just a research internship in college itself. I gave GATE 2026 with decent prep and scored 45 marks with around 6375 rank, so realistically I don’t think I’ll get anything good from it.

What hurts more is that because of self doubt and fear, I didn’t even appear for PGEE. One of my friends got around 47 marks and cleared it. I’m genuinely happy for her, but at the same time it keeps hitting me that maybe I could have done it too if I had just tried instead of doubting myself so much.

And then I also fumbled an HR interview for a 7 LPA job because I got nervous and messed it up.

So now I’m sitting here with:

• no job
• no good college
• regret of not trying properly at the right time
• preparing for GATE again
• feeling behind everyone around me

The thing is I know I’m not completely useless or lazy. I do work. But somehow whenever an important moment comes, I hesitate, overthink, lose confidence and then regret it later.

I’m planning to go for GATE again seriously, but at the same time I don’t want to stay jobless for another whole year because mentally this phase already feels terrible. But my current profile also feels too weak for good opportunities right now.

Did anyone else go through a phase like this around 22-23? How did you recover from feeling like you messed up your own chances?

I just feel very stuck at this stage of life right now.