From Spark to Flame: Journey of The VSF Tech Interview Club

As we bid farewell to 2023, it’s a good time to reflect on the journey of the VSF Tech Interview Club, born out of the shared vision between Veera Gundu, Srinivasa Patchigolla, and Srinath Sura (myself) at the end of 2022. What began as a passionate discussion to empower VSF tech professionals has evolved into an active community today.

We started off on a mission to create a platform that promotes continuous learning among high-tech professionals of the community. Bay Area professionals can agree that there is a constant demand for up-skilling, and a constant pressure to stay ahead of the curve. Just as physical fitness is essential for our bodies, we believed that nourishing our minds is equally important, especially given the rate of change that takes place in the high tech industry.

With a clear objective in mind, we the founders started defining our vision, the target audience, and operational strategies. Our success criteria was not rooted just in numbers, but in the impact on individuals, in the growth that each member would experience. These discussions happened over a series of weekend hikes, coffee chats and whiteboard sessions. Come January ’23, the flame flickered to life. VSF Tech Interview Club was launched, and our virtual doors were open. This is a forum where members come together over Zoom every week to dive into system design software use cases and tackle challenging behavioral questions that one faces in a typical interview at high tech corporations.

A great deal of professional bonding happens during our in-person meetups — a daylong mini-conference where members network, external speakers who are the industry experts share insights on hot topics and industry trends, and discussions unfold on everything from AI and ML to career advancement strategies. With two such conferences that we had in 2023, we found that the folks who joined these conferences ended the day with a good amount of learning satisfaction and professional networking.

No success story is complete without acknowledging the efforts of those behind the scenes. Our active members who have been with us consistently month over month, are the pillars of the club. Shanthi Priya, our VP of Membership, and Sravanthi Madallapalli, our VP of Operations, have played pivotal roles in ensuring smooth operation of our club. Their passion and dedication have been instrumental in orchestrating the puzzle pieces of club execution.

Today, looking back on this journey, a quiet pride settles within us founders. The seed we planted has blossomed into a vibrant hub. The feedback from our dedicated members has been invaluable.

Lessons Learned and Looking Ahead:

This year-long journey has been a great learning experience for us founders. We’ve witnessed the evolution of the club, with each passing month bringing new challenges, successes, and, most importantly, growth. What excites us even more is the promise of 2024 — a year that holds the potential to enhance our offerings and hence, the value of our club.