A Zoho employee’s heartening story has gone viral, after he made a LinkedIn post describing his journey from leaving his home with barely Rs 200 to spare, becoming a security guard at the software as a service firm (SAAS) and then learning enough coding to become a member of the technical team.
Abdul Alim shared his story in a long written post on LinkedIn, which accrued over 2.38 lakh likes and reactions.
“In 2013, With just 1000 rupees, I left my home, spent 800 on a train ticket. After roaming for 2 months on the streets, finally found a job at a security desk,” Alim wrote.
“One day, one of the senior employees of the company, asked my name and said - Alim, I can see something in your eyes (sounds filmy I know). He asked me about my studies and my computer knowledge.”
“In school I learned a little bit of HTML. Then he asked me If I want to learn more, and this is how My learning began. Since every day after completing my 12 hours security shift, I went to the senior and learned.”
“About after eight months, I created a small app. An app that takes the user input and visualizes it. The senior employee showed the app to his manager and he liked it. He asked if it is possible to interview me.”
“I thought I will not be interviewed ever because I did not go to any college and studied only will 10th. He told that in Zoho You don't need a college degree, What matters here is you and your skills.”
“And the day came, gave the interview and ..passed it. Today it is my 8th year in Zoho Corporation. I want to thank Shibu Alexis (the senior employee) for all the knowledge and lessons and Zoho Corporation for allowing me to prove myself. And on the final note, It is never too late to start learning,” he wrote.
Alim’s story has been shared before, usually in reference to Zoho’s “Zoho Schools” program that pays high school graduates to study and develop software and corporate skills.
Alim has also developed a COVID-19 tracker, track-covid19.in
