Playbook
Every guide. Organized by where you are.
Eight stages, from "I want to land a remote job" to "I got paid in USD." Read in order or jump to the stage you're in.
01Foundations
8 guidesThe honest filter on certs, courses, DSA, system design, and AI engineering.
- Which certs actually matter (and which to skip)draft
- AWS certs done right: SAA and Developer Associatedraft
- Free resources that beat paid bootcampsdraft
- System design roundup + DDIA — the only path that worksdraft
- LLM / AI engineering path: RAG, agents, MCPdraft
- LeetCode patterns that actually show up + the 20-min struggle methoddraft
- Learn-by-building tracks: build an MCP server, build a RAG pipelinedraft
- Run your own 60-day job-search sprintdraft
02Build your proof
12 guidesPortfolio projects, GitHub profile, MCP servers, and the contribute-to-hire playbook.
- Portfolio projects: building one strong proof-point repodraft
- Your GitHub profile README: what recruiters actually seedraft
- Repo READMEs that make a recruiter open the linkdraft
- Building in public for inbound recruiter DMsdraft
- Contribute-to-hire: finding repos that hire from Indiadraft
- Contribute-to-hire: picking a winnable issue (verify rules + -linked:pr)draft
- Contribute-to-hire: writing a PR that gets mergeddraft
- Contribute-to-hire: turning a merged PR into an offerdraft
- Reading a giant OSS codebase fastdraft
- Getting a complex OSS repo running locallydraft
- Working with OSS maintainers without getting ghosteddraft
- Building an MCP server as a portfolio weapondraft
03Application assets
4 guidesATS-optimized resume, LinkedIn FDE positioning, cover letters, and the Forward Deployed Engineer archetype.
04Find the jobs
8 guidesYC, Wellfound, We Work Remotely, Toptal, HN — and how to filter for India-eligible roles.
- Where remote roles that actually hire from India livedraft
- YC Work at a Startup: applying to 200 startups in one formdraft
- Wellfound (ex-AngelList) for India-based devsdraft
- We Work Remotely: filtering the firehosedraft
- Toptal: passing the screen and getting paid in USDdraft
- Underdog.io — and why it's weaker for Indiadraft
- Filtering job posts for India-eligible rolesdraft
- Building a job tracker: the 4-tier systemdraft
05Apply & reach out
5 guidesThe 2-a-day cold DM system, warm intros, and the blog posts that make you look senior.
06Interview & close
6 guidesLeetCode patterns, system design rounds, take-homes, behavioral, and offer negotiation.
- DSA / LeetCode rounds: the patterns that show updraft
- System design rounds and the 30-design listdraft
- Take-homes and live coding: what they're really testingdraft
- Behavioral interviews and STAR storiesdraft
- AI-native interview screens (MCP token, AI voice interview)draft
- Offer negotiation for remote rolesdraft
07Get paid (India-specific)
4 guidesDeel, Wise, FIRC, taxes, equipment, and negotiating in INR vs USD.
08Do it free with AI
4 guidesHow to ATS-optimize your resume, generate READMEs, tailor your CV, and build portfolios — without paying for tools.