M(22) US bachelors-- Return to India ? Next step ? Career is so uncertain
Just graduated with a BS in CS from a public flagship in the Midwest. Fortunate enough to have had a full scholarship so no loans, but the job market has been brutal.
Right now I'm doing an IT support internship — checking laptop warranties, closing help tickets, prepping PCs for new hires, fixing DisplayPort issues, Tier 1 support. Repetitive, boring, and feels like a dead end. No return offer or extension coming because there's another intern who's been there a year longer and basically functions as full-time staff. He's in client meetings. I'm just freeing up time for him and the senior IT staff. Third wheel is exactly how it feels.
I wanted a software internship. My resume is solid but my school is a state public flagship and big tech simply doesn't recruit here. Applied to a bunch, heard nothing back.
So I have two options and I genuinely don't know what to do:
Option 1: Stay and do a master's at the same school
I missed the application cycle for better programs so it would be here. Hoping the local network I've built carries me into the next recruiting cycle. But honestly — I'm exhausted. I cannot go through another round of spamming 600 applications into the void and grinding leetcode for interviews that never come. I dread it and I think it'll genuinely destroy my mental peace.
Option 2: Return to India
The problem is Indian hiring runs on campus placements. I'd be coming back mid-cycle with just a bachelor's and zero SWE experience — I can't just drop into that pipeline. Realistically I might stagnate at home, jobless. And there's a personal layer to this too: relatives who came during the 2015 tech boom are doing well in the US. Going back empty-handed means being the "failure" in that circle. People will talk. That weighs on me more than I'd like to admit.
I'll be honest — I'm jealous of people with the same background as me who got lucky enough to get an interview and land something. I'm not less technical than them. I know people who are less skilled than me who have jobs and interviews, and it stings. Fate and timing just haven't been on my side. If I'd gotten the interview, that could've been me.
Has anyone navigated something similar the India vs. stay decision, or the non-target school wall? What would you actually do?
(Used Claude for framing)