My Internship Struggles as a Front-End Developer in 2025 — and Why I Chose DevOps

Over the past year, I’ve been exploring what I truly love to do. Eventually, I chose front-end development — diving deep into HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and React. But by 2025, web development has become incredibly saturated. It feels like every other college student is learning it, and the competition is tougher than ever.

With AI tools becoming more powerful, even front-end tasks are being automated. Tools like Devin AI can generate full UI components, and because of that, companies often prefer senior developers who can manage complex tasks. This makes it harder for freshers to get noticed.

Back in March, when Devin AI was trending, I wasted two months stuck in decision paralysis — wondering what tech stack to focus on and which career path would be more future-proof. I tried diving into Machine Learning, but I realized it requires strong math skills. So, I dropped that plan and came back to learning JavaScript again.

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Starting My Internship Hunt (Feb 2025)

In February, I started applying for internships. I had built projects like Netflix and YouTube clones by following YouTubers. I made sure to code everything on my own and understood React, Firebase, and API integration well. For a front-end developer, understanding APIs and a bit of backend is crucial — even if we’re not full-stack developers.

After applying to more than 100 internships, I received four interview calls — all spaced out randomly.

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1st Interview – The Unexpected Ghosting

This was my first ever interview as a front-end developer. It was held on Google Meet. The questions they asked were completely unrelated to the job description. I was shocked. Eventually, they ghosted me without any follow-up. I was rejected without knowing why.

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2nd Interview – Power Cut Disaster

The second one was with a small startup. When I reached their office, the electricity was gone! 😅 They asked me to wait until it came back. I was like, “Man, if you had no electricity, you could have at least informed me.”

It was a total waste of my day. I live in Pune, and their office was in Baner, which is 1.5 hours away. Eventually, they ghosted me too.

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3rd Interview – The One That Felt Right… But Still Rejected

This interview gave me hope.

It was another startup based in Hinjewadi, Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park, Pune. A recruiter called and shortlisted me. She asked me some React questions on the phone, and I cleared that round. The next day, I was scheduled for the in-person interview.

I reached the office one hour early. The recruiter gave me an online assessment with MCQs on JavaScript, React, Redux, HTML, and CSS — which I cleared easily.

Then came the technical round, where I was interviewed alongside another candidate — which was new and weird for me. The software engineer asked us questions one by one. I answered all the questions correctly, including output-based JavaScript problems.

After the interview, the recruiter said they’d inform me via email.

Guess what? I got rejected again.

I was shocked. I had answered better than the other candidate, but I think they selected someone who lived closer to their office. I live 2 hours away, thanks to Pune traffic.

Still, I kept applying — whether paid or unpaid.

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4th Interview – The Most Horrible One

This was the worst interview experience of my life. It was an unexpected and unprofessional interaction with another nameless startup.

A recruiter called, asking basic questions like where I lived, what stipend I expected, and whether I could do a full-time internship. I told her I was pursuing a distance/online BCA, so managing a full-time internship wouldn’t be a problem.

She scheduled the interview for the next day (again!).

I prepared thoroughly — focusing on JavaScript behind the scenes: call stack, event loop, hoisting, closures, and all React fundamentals.

On the day of the interview, I joined 15 minutes early. The recruiter told me to wait 20 minutes because another interview was ongoing. Then, the recruiter and a technical manager joined the Google Meet. One software engineer started the interview.

After the usual “Tell me about yourself,” he asked me about React fundamentals — like reconciliation and virtual DOM — which I explained well.

But then, everything changed.

He asked me to open an online compiler, and I thought it would be for output-based questions. But instead, he asked DSA (Data Structures & Algorithms) questions. I was shocked.

All the YouTubers and tech influencers said that startups don’t ask DSA. Then why was this happening to me?

At the time, I had just started learning DSA in Python because I found Java’s syntax hard. He asked me to find the maximum element in an array — a simple question also some more DSA, but I was blank and confused. He laughed at me and said, “This is so easy; even a beginner should know this.” Then he added, “You shouldn't be in this field if you don’t know this.”

That was a breaking point.

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My Next Move

After that interview, I decided to take a break from development for at least 3-4 months. The MERN stack job market felt overcrowded, startups were paying very little, and even they started asking for DSA.

So, I switched my focus to DevOps. If I ever return to development, I’ll learn Java with Spring Boot — since it's more stable, and many MNCs use it.

Meanwhile, I’m slowly preparing for DSA again — because I still have 8 months ahead of me.

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Conclusion

This is my journey so far. I’m determined to stick to one path now — and that’s DevOps and Cloud. I’ll eat, drink, and live it.

Thanks for reading. I’ll keep you updated on my journey! 🚀