I am a passionate competitive programmer. How can I get into product-based companies/startups after working for two years in a service-based company like TCS/CTS/INFOSYS/WIPRO?

Dude sorry to say this but you sit two years on bench and say you are passionate about programming. What is wrong with you? If you are really as good as you claim in the question description then it is not difficult to land a job with a startup. I am not sure about other companies but Amazon would give you a chance for sure (at least for pre-interview test or telephonic round). The further process depends on your performance. You can ask your friends to refer you or approach their HR via email or LinkedIn. Good luck!

Few things, 1. Try http://jobs.hasgeek.com, startups usually post job requirement there. 2. If you live in major city then meet people on startup events. 3. Keep looking for emerging startups on Quora and other places, send them your resume, even if they are not recruiting right now. Shoot your resume to as many startups as possible, I know there are many people who would consider a good score on Topcoder as a good sign. Don't be disheartened by rejection, it is not only a reflection of your capability but also a reflection of hiring process followed by startup. You have mentioned that you couldn't get interview for various reasons, try to get to the root of it. Are you doing something obviously wrong with resume? Are you not putting your best foot forward? Get someone you know to review these things. I left my job at Infosys to join start up, if a startup rejects you for working at MNC then you are better off such startup.

Take the pH test by http://www.eLitmus.com Be willing to restart your career as a fresher, and rise up in a product company.

Start preparing for below subjects 1. DSA - Study all the Algorithms properly. Use http://dl.flipkart.com/dl/introduction-algorithms-english-3rd/p/itmdwxyrafdburzg?pid=9788120340077&srno=p_1&query=cormen&affid=aspirantm. Possibly the best book. If you are short on time go through the MIT videos. - You must know the applications of every algorithm along with the complexity. - Most of the companies ask problems related to specific parts in DSA. For eg. Dynamic Programming, Backtracking, Recursion is asked often. Companies like Flipkart, PayPal, Walmart go really deep into these concepts. - Be prepared with the complexity of each algorithm. Often they ask you to improvise your given algorithm to more efficient algo. Sometimes they ask you to write a code on their laptops. So do not panic. Be prepared. 2. OS   - Important topics are Processes, Synchronization, Semaphores, Memory. - Questions involving semaphores are asked intensely by companies like PayPal, Directi, Microsoft, Oracle, etc. - Also, a lot of questions are asked on process diagrams and memory. They ask you the importance of zombie process and stuff. Also virtual memory and stuff. - Virtual memory, Paging, Segmentation are important. Also basic linux commands must be known. 3. CN   - Comparatively less amount of questions on CN. Mostly on TCP/IP, connection establishment, etc. Three way handshake and stuff. Also, the 7 OSI layers along with their importance are asked. Be prepared with the functionality of each layer. - Companies like CISCO will ask CN more than others. Also, in case of Directi, the coding round that takes place can be a one which involves Socket Programming. So get your basics of Socket establishment and connection. You can code in any language you want. 4. Databases   - Be thorough with those ER-diagrams. They ask you to draw it sometimes. - Normalization questions are often asked in DB. Till 4NF and BCNF. Not beyond that. They give you a DB and ask the normal form of it. And then ask you to normalize it further. - Also, in some cases, you are asked to design the Database. Like for eg. There is an Olympic being held at London. You have to give a complete description of the tables, the keys of each table, the redundancy of the tables if any and all possible such tables must be shown. How efficient is you model and stuff like that. - SQL also is asked by companies concentrating on DB. All commands and queries are asked. Again they provide their laptop and ask you to write the query. Outer join, theta join, etc is also asked. 5. OOP   - Any OO language you know you have to tell them. Make sure you do not tell any if you don’t know. - For Java/C++, questions on Abstraction, Encapsulation, Inheritance, Polymorphism are asked. You have to give examples for these OO concepts. - Then “Friend Class” is their favorite class in both Java/C++. They ask questions related to it. Whether its private or public. Whether its abstract, etc. - Difference between abstract classes and interfaces is asked. They may ask you to implement a interface or write an abstract class. Some code is asked. - Method overloading/overriding is asked. You have to give an example. - Operator overloading/overriding is often asked asked. - Garbage collection and the finalize() method is asked. They ask you to implement your own finalize method.

Apparently TopCoder is not so popular with Hiring managers in India. Participate in Hiring challenges in Hackerrank, Hackerearth , TechGig. With Yellow in TopCoder these should be a piece if cake. Apply for Jobs through stackoverflow careers. Install Super Job app on your mobile. There are a lot of startups jobs here. Connect to hiring managers in Linkedin and shamelessly approach about the Job. You will be surprised by the response. If you still can't get a call contact me. I will try to help you.Happy job hunting.

I head the recruitment for a Product Based startup -Bona Vita Technologies . We have and are keenly looking for candidates who are passionate about programming and building great products.You can definitely get in touch with me at .