A 24 year old Indian A developer’s desire to work remotely took a frustrating turn when an American company rejected him simply because of his accent. Tushar Verma, a resident of Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, has been actively applying for jobs on online platforms after his former employer faced budget constraints. In an interview with Indiastantimes.com, he said that he contacted an American recruiter on social media and applied for a junior developer position with a monthly salary of US$4,000 (approximately $330,000). However, despite recruiters praising his portfolio and technical skills, the opportunity was abruptly cut short due to language delivery.
“I am an Indian developer, 24 years old, looking for jobs again as my previous company had some budget constraints, so I also looked for jobs on Twitter, Wellfound, YCombinator and other platforms,” Verma said.
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Talking about his job search process, he shared, “I typically apply to 20-30 positions a day as it helps me write unique cover letters for each company. Additionally, I can research the company I’m applying for more thoroughly. This also includes cold contacting founders and companies.”
He came across an opportunity to connect with a founder while searching for “careers” on X. He sent a DM to the American founder and received a reply at midnight.
“So I sent him a private message and he responded to me in the middle of the night, so I responded to him in about seven minutes in the ‘hii’ below my cover letter message.”
“He told me he was looking for a junior developer making $4,000 a month,” recalls Verma. “That was exactly the amount I wanted.”
The founder asked Verma to share his introductory video. since he already has one video Regarding his job, Verma immediately forwarded it to potential employers. He also shared his website ‘tusharsoni.com’ which showcases his portfolio.
After reviewing the videos and portfolio, the founder said that while he liked Velma’s work, he had issues with his accent.
“Well, as you know, I’m looking for someone with good communication skills,” the American told Verma via text message, adding, “Like an American accent.” The founder further said, “But you know your accent is thick, like ‘shi’.”
Sharing her story on social media, Verma also wrote, “I got rejected from interviews because of my accent! I recently snubbed a founder who saw my amazing AI interview video and he even rejected me for an interview even though he seemed to like my portfolio and skills. Wild times.”
Recalling his experience, he told Hindustantimes.com, “I told him that I have been working in corporate America for the past two years… and he said we just need an American accent where we can communicate easily, I mean I can speak fluent English. I would put myself in the middle category. But yeah, whatever. That’s the whole story behind it and I posted it on my Twitter so that people can understand the experience.”
Social media reaction:
One person posted, “Crazy. Why is an accent important, even for a startup that may not exist tomorrow?” Another said, “Trust me, it’s probably not worth your time. These ideas are truly reflective of the type of culture that exists out there. All the best.”
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A third commented: “What?! This still happens. I watch your YouTube and your accent is so good I can hear it clearly.” A fourth wrote: “Haha this happened to me too.”
