In 2022, Abhijay Arora Vuyyuru took a loan of nearly ₹1 crore ($100K) to chase his dream of a Harvard MBA. Two years later, in 2024, he stood on the graduation stage with no job offer, a ticking 90-day OPT clock, and the weight of massive debt.
“Nobody told me that job hunting in the US after your Masters would be brutal,” he later admitted in an emotional Instagram post, documenting his journey.
But what could have been a story of defeat became a story of resilience, innovation, and success. Today, Abhijay is a Product Manager at YouTube (Google) in San Francisco and creator of AI tools that have helped thousands of job seekers.
From Struggling in the US to Google
Abhijay grew up in Panchkula, far from any legacy connections or family fortune. In 2012, he failed the IIT entrance exam, a major setback for him, especially considering his mother’s sacrifices. By 2017, he was working at a small, little-known firm, far from the glitz of MBB consulting or Silicon Valley tech giants.
Rejections piled up. In 2021, top US business schools like Wharton, MIT, and others turned him down. “Everyone told me I was wasting my time applying to Harvard,” he recalled. “That I only had rejections, no shot.” Still, he applied, and when the Harvard acceptance email arrived, his hands shook. Today, he keeps every rejection letter framed alongside the acceptance letter, as a reminder that “what feels like a BIG failure today… Often becomes a tiny blip in hindsight.”
Abhijay described a moment when, in 2024, his mother flew from India to watch his Harvard graduation. Abhijay couldn’t tell her he was unemployed. “She cried. I smiled,” he shared on LinkedIn. “But deep down? A 90-day timer was ticking.” Even a summer internship only temporarily paused the stress of repaying massive loans while struggling amid a tough US job market.
Turning desperation into innovation
After sending over 100 applications in a week and getting zero interviews, Abhijay realised the problem wasn’t his experience, it was the Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) filtering his resume. “Every interview I landed? I customised my resume with the right keywords first,” he explained.
Manually doing this for hundreds of applications was impossible, so he built an AI-powered resume optimiser. Upload a resume, paste a job description, and the tool automatically inserts the right keywords. He also created an n8n automation that finds hiring managers’ emails and drafts personalised cold emails directly into your inbox. “The best way to get an interview is to connect with a hiring manager,” he said.
These tools didn’t just land him interviews, they changed the game entirely. Within months, Abhijay secured a Product Manager role at Google, working on connected experience products at YouTube.
One unforgettable day, he flew his mother to Google’s San Francisco office and showed her around. “I can never forget this day,” he wrote. “My support system — those who unconditionally stood with me… my Mom! Whatever little I can offer in this life won’t do justice to your sacrifices.”
Giving Back: Building a free career community
Today, Abhijay isn’t just focused on personal success. With over 414,000 Instagram followers, 71,000 LinkedIn followers, and growing audiences on Substack and YouTube, he has made it his mission to build “the largest FREE career community in this AI era.” He shares AMAs, free guides, and even personally DMs his AI tools and prompts to anyone who comments “n8n,” “guide,” or “tips.”