He Had Never Written a Line of Code Before Parul University. He Almost Skipped the TCS Interview. Three Phone Calls From the Placement Cell Brought Him Back. He Walked Out of TCS Prime Selections From 252 Placed Students at 9 LPA: Shailendra Soni From Rajasthan’s Desert Belt

There is a version of Shailendra Soni‘s story where none of this happens. Where he stays home in Rajasthan, takes the non-tech opportunity that had come his way, and never sits for the TCS interview at all. That version almost happened.

He had cleared the TCS online assessment. But Shailendra Soni was at his hometown. He had other options, and the distance to Vadodara felt like an inconvenience he could reasonably skip. He told his faculty coordinator, Megha Mayavanshi Ma’am, that he was unable to come. She called again. He said the same thing.

Then Siddharth Prabhat Koteal Sir from the Training and Placement Cell called. Shailendra Soni told him about the non-tech opportunity he was considering. The response was brief and direct:

“Tell me, you are from which branch? Then it is tech, no? I will say one simple line to you. Do not miss any opportunity.”

Then Ruchika Ma’am, the Deputy Director of the placement cell, called. She told him to come. She told him that once he booked his ticket, she would personally ensure he received priority access to his interview slot. And she added: just send me the screenshot of the booked ticket.

He booked the ticket. He sent the screenshot. He came to Vadodara. He sat for TCS Prime. He cracked it.

“I will thank these three people: Megha Mayavanshi Ma’am, Siddharth Prabhat Koteal Sir, and Ruchika Ma’am. They have a hand in this. If they had not called me, I would not have come.”

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Shailendra Soni grew up in the desert region of Rajasthan, a part of the country where software engineering is not the most visible career path. Consistently in the top five of his class, 87 percent in Class 10, 86 percent in Class 12. He chose science because mathematics was his strongest subject. He attempted JEE. He did not get through.

He was standing in the campus of Manipal University Jaipur when his father called about Ruma Devi, a celebrated craftswoman from Rajasthan’s rural heartland who had become a brand ambassador for Parul University. She was from the same home district as Shailendra Soni’s family.

“As I heard about Parul University, without a second thought, I found my slot online. I booked my seat on call. After ten days, I went to Parul University and took my admission. It was like within just a minute. No second thought.”

Shailendra Soni entered Parul University having never written code. A mathematical mind but zero programming experience. When he wrote his first lines of code, something happened that JEE preparation had never produced. If you’re wondering how to develop a career in software development and AI, enrol into B.Tech CSE in AI & ML program of Parul University.

“When I entered Parul University and started my first coding of my life, at that time I was thinking, how is this working? Just writing some little letters and the whole system is working. Then I got curious about it.”

That curiosity drove the progression: C fundamentals in semester one, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in semester two, full-stack architecture with React, Next.js, and PostgreSQL by semesters three and four. Driven not by syllabus alone but by genuine, accelerating interest.

What kept him consistent was GitHub’s contribution grid: green for productive days, grey for idle days.

“That made me consistent, because I want to fill that box every day.”

While managing academics and an internship at Evol Technobits Digital Pvt Ltd, Shailendra Soni was building LeadFlow AI: a multi-tenant SaaS platform integrating WhatsApp APIs, AI automation, and a PostgreSQL/Supabase backend. Solo developer. Every layer.

The problem: real estate brokers losing clients because they forget to follow up.

“I was searching for flats for a friend. There is no solution for this. So I tried to make it.”

LeadFlow AI automates client communication: an AI-powered board handling multiple clients, generating property PDFs based on requirements, keeping conversations alive. Have you developed such or aspire to learn? Enrol into AI courses after 12th of Parul University and say yes to your AI dreams!

His second product: a digital billing and inventory management app for jewellers, designed for his goldsmith community in Rajasthan. Gold and silver weight calculations, bill generation, three-month financial statements, WhatsApp PDF sharing. He built it because the tool he wished existed for his community did not exist.

Webhooks failed. APIs broke. Deployments crashed. Each failure became a lesson. As the only developer handling frontend, backend, deployment, debugging, and user testing, he learned what most students do not encounter until their first job. You too can become industry ready before earning your degree by exploring engineering programs after 12th.

Parul University placed 252 students at TCS in 2026, the highest number the university has ever placed at a single company. Shailendra Soni is among only three who received Prime. TCS Prime is the company’s high-calibre track, reserved for candidates whose technical depth places them above the standard threshold. 9 LPA.

The technical interview with Kamlesh Sir from TCS: eight right, two wrong by his own honest count. But what sealed it was the ten-minute AI debate that followed the structured questions.

“After that, we had a little debate: will AI take over humans or not? We talked about that for ten minutes. When I left the room, I was very confident. I said to myself: I will get this job for sure.”

Shailendra Soni had been building an AI-powered product for months. When the interviewer opened that conversation, he was not responding with opinions from articles. He was responding from implementation-level understanding. The difference is visible to any experienced interviewer within minutes.

When results came, his name appeared in two lists. He was the only Prime in both.

“I literally got in two lists, and I was the only Prime. I literally was shivering and hugged my best friend, and instantly called my mother, my father, my brother.”

Shailendra Soni completed his B.Tech CSE at Parul University with a CGPA of 7.39. He has assigned the numbers behind his placement himself: 50 percent to Parul University. 25 percent to the people around him. 25 percent to himself.

“Whatever I learnt, I learnt from the university. They made me from zero to hero for TCS. The best part is that they gave me an opportunity to come. They brought TCS to our campus. If they did not bring TCS, how could I have participated in that?”

The B.Tech CSE curriculum gave him the ladder from C to React/Next.js. The internship mandate pushed him into real-world development.

IMPACT training by Six Phrase (Ravi Sir for Java, Gohan Verma Sir for consistency, Salini Ma’am for communication) closed his DSA gap. Megha Mayavanshi Ma’am, Siddharth Prabhat Koteal Sir, and Ruchika Ma’am refused to let him skip the interview that produced TCS Prime.

B.Tech CSE at Parul University’s Faculty of Engineering and Technology. 252 TCS placements in one season. The same programme: Tanish Patel and Suraj Jagtap (60 LPA, Microsoft), Soumya Dhakad (43 LPA, US-based MNC), Parth Bangoria (8 LPA, HashedIn by Deloitte). 250+ labs. 2,200+ recruiters. NAAC A++ (CGPA 3.55). ASSOCHAM Best University in Placements for 3 consecutive years.

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