Ready Set Do

About Ready Set Do

A podcast about how successful people got unstuck. Each episode goes back to the moment they were stuck and walks through what they actually did to move. Their story is proof the door opens. What you do next is yours.

Publisher

Naman Pandey

Category

education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

3 Apr 2024

Latest episode

12 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

130 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   12 Oct 2026

   How To Do A US Master’s Debt-Free in 2026 & Get Headhunted by Big Tech Recruiters (Meta SWE POV) - w/ Bharath

   Thirteen hundred applications. Thirteen callbacks. At one point, that was Bharath Vemula's job search math. Today he's a Meta engineer working on the company's model training stack. (The twist? He never applied to Meta. Recruiters found him on LinkedIn.) So what was on that profile? We pull it apart, along with the LinkedIn habit that got him headhunted. If you've ever wondered whether anyone reads your headline, this one's for you. His path runs through four years as a software engineer at Goldman Sachs in India, then Verily, the Alphabet moonshot company, where he worked on privacy and data governance. Then Meta. We go deep on the Meta interview process as it stands now. Two DSA rounds, a system design interview, a behavioral round, plus the AI coding round that's been added since. Is LeetCode dead in 2026? He says no. His reasoning is worth hearing even if you hate grinding problems (and yes, most of us do). Then we rewind to 2022. Bharath came to the US for his MS at Purdue with the whole plan already mapped out before he left India. He turned down Columbia over the fee and picked Purdue for the assistantship odds. A research role in a cyber safety lab funded most of his master's, and he finished in eighteen months. His one rule? Walk out with zero debt. Study abroad folks, take notes. This is the international student playbook most people wish they had on day one. We also get into where big tech jobs are opening up next. His bet is ML systems engineering and AI infrastructure. He thinks the compute wasted across big tech data centers is one of the biggest openings for engineers right now. In the back half, we get EB-2 NIW explained in plain terms. How a green card NIW petition skips PERM, what USCIS looks for, and why he started it as protection against tech layoffs before it became the whole plan. For any Indian engineer in the USA, it's an H-1B alternative worth understanding. Plus his side research on AI agent security, how agents change the economics of social engineering attacks, and how to build a research profile without a university behind you. We close on the big question. Is AI a bubble, and will it take your job? His answer is more specific than yes or no. If you're deep in a software engineer job search right now, watch the 1,300 applications chapter twice. Subscribe to Ready Set Do on YouTube and Spotify, and find every episode at readysetdopodcast.com 🎧 Chapters: 00:00 Intro - How We Met At Purdue 03:06 "I Never Applied To Meta" - The Interview Process 05:55 What Is Verily? Inside An Alphabet Moonshot 07:48 The LinkedIn Habit That Got Him Headhunted 11:04 How He Landed His First US Job At Verily 13:16 1,300 Applications, 13 Callbacks, 9 Offers 16:03 What Actually Counts As A Signal On Your Resume 18:26 Can You Build A Specialist Profile In 3 Months? 19:31 The Plan He Made Before Leaving India 21:00 "I Don't Want Debt On My Head" 22:26 Why He Turned Down Columbia 25:16 Does Any Of This Still Work In 2026? 26:52 ML Systems Engineering Is The Real Opening 29:38 What He Actually Does At Meta 32:47 Agentic Cyber Warfare And Attacks At Scale 34:47 How To Do Research Without Being In College 36:38 EB-2 NIW Explained: How It Skips PERM 40:07 Is AI A Bubble? A Meta Engineer's Take 42:10 Why He Doesn't Believe AGI Is Here 43:49 Will AI Take Your Job?

2. 

   4 Oct 2026

   How To Quit UPSC After 2 Failed Attempts & Restart With An MS In The USA - w/ Akash

   Updated to 3,750 characters total, chapters included, so you have about 250 to spare. Akash prepared full time for India's UPSC civil services exam for two years. Eight to nine hours a day, two attempts. He didn't make it. Then he gave himself three days to decide on a third try, and barely slept through any of them. He walked away. (Spoiler: what came next was far messier than "UPSC aspirant becomes software engineer in the US.") Why is UPSC such a trap? Akash calls it a black hole for India's youthful years. The exam is binary. You clear it, or you leave with zero. He shares the four questions to answer before another UPSC attempt. He also names the sunk cost trap that keeps aspirants coming back long after they should stop. At 24, he held a metallurgy degree from IIT BHU and zero coding background. He weighed CAT and GATE against the GRE, said no to an MBA, and chose an MS in CS in the USA. How do you build a CS profile from nothing? He co-wrote a machine learning paper with a professor back at his IIT. He also covers how to explain a two-year gap on applications. Then he applied to 17 US universities. One admit. Would you guess the next part from Instagram? Fear of failing a course on an F1 visa. No return offer. A layoff. $100K in student loans. (The Grand Canyon photos leave that out.) For international students job hunting in the USA, he breaks down 20 to 30 applications a day and what a real referral looks like. If you're sitting on a decision you've already spent years paying for, this one is for you. Subscribe on YouTube and Spotify, or visit readysetdopodcast.com. CHAPTERS 00:00 Why UPSC Is India's Biggest Time Sink 02:39 How He Ended Up Preparing For UPSC 03:52 The Back Bench Book That Started Everything 04:38 Quitting Consulting After One Year 05:57 What Is Actually In The UPSC Syllabus 06:33 UPSC Stages: Prelims, Mains, Interview 07:32 Why UPSC Is Not Like Engineering Entrance Exams 08:29 "I Don't Wanna Gamble My Entire Youth On An Exam" 08:40 A Day In The Life Of A Full Time UPSC Aspirant 09:25 Why IIT Killed His Study Habit 10:51 How To Train Yourself To Study For Long Hours 11:24 The Two Hour Study Shift Rule 11:50 Why He Never Context Switched Between Subjects 13:59 Does UPSC Prep Give You Any Job Skills? 14:38 Why UPSC Is Binary: One Or Zero 15:38 "A Black Hole That Sinks India's Youthful Years" 17:04 What Happens To Those Who Don't Make It 17:15 The One Thing UPSC Prep Actually Gives You 18:31 Most Aspirants Don't Have A Strong Enough Why 18:59 Government Sponsored Ivy League Study 20:02 4 Questions To Ask Before Another UPSC Attempt 21:25 Do You Even Want The Life UPSC Gives You? 22:45 The Sunk Cost Trap 23:39 What Finally Made Him Quit UPSC 24:32 Three Sleepless Days To Decide 26:48 "Am I One Foot Away From Water?" 28:00 CAT vs GATE vs GRE After Undergrad 29:32 Why He Said No To An MBA 30:11 "My Last Chance To Learn A Hard Skill" 33:09 Why Computer Science 34:38 "Without UPSC I'd Never Be In Software Engineering" 36:20 How To Explain A Two Year Gap On Applications 37:43 MIS vs Computer Science: Picking A Major 39:51 How To Build A CS Profile From Zero 40:27 Publishing An ML Paper To Prove Capability 42:37 US Admits Are A Numbers Game 43:32 17 Applications, 1 Admit 44:00 The Rejection That Became An Admit 45:10 The First 3 Years In The US Were Brutal 46:17 "What If I Fail A Course On An F1 Visa?" 46:33 No Return Offer, Then A Layoff 47:11 100K In Student Loans 47:22 The Grand Canyon Story vs Reality 48:23 When The American Dream Actually Starts 50:55 Job Hunting Is A Numbers Game: 20-30 Applications A Day 51:40 What A Real Referral Looks Like 53:18 Worst Case, A Referral Gets You Feedback 54:31 What's Next: Entrepreneurship On A Visa 55:32 Climbing The Wrong Mountain 56:35 The One Takeaway From This Episode

3. 

   29 Sept 2026

   How to Stand Out on LinkedIn When AI Writes Everything (20,000-Post Ghostwriter POV) - w/ Shoaib

   A week before we recorded this, my nephew asked why I'd started posting on LinkedIn. He'd just finished college and started his first job, so I gave him the textbook answer about networks and opportunities. (I watched it bounce right off him.) Fair enough. If you're a new grad deep in a graduate job search, "build your network" sounds like homework with no due date. So I brought in someone who could answer him properly. Shoaib Ahmed is a LinkedIn ghostwriter who has written over 20,000 posts. His first job out of university came through a LinkedIn DM, and he later used the platform to build a million-pound business. (So yes, he's earned an opinion.) Why does LinkedIn personal branding matter more now that AI writes half the feed? Shoaib's answer surprised me. The flood of AI slop is your opening. When every post sounds the same, a real voice gets noticed fast. For personal branding beginners who don't feel like experts yet, he covers what to post anyway. And this isn't a founder-only game. Employees build a personal brand too, and he explains how. Then we get into the business side. Clients say they want one thing and actually want another. Impressions are a vanity number. You need reach and conversion, and one without the other stalls out. His LinkedIn profile audit covers the banner, the offer, your ICP, and the proof. Sell the transformation instead of the service. Make your ideal buyer feel seen. Let testimonials and case studies do the bragging. If your profile still reads like a résumé nobody finishes, jump to 00:37:13. If you're a student figuring out how to use LinkedIn, or you want to get hired on LinkedIn without sounding like a robot, this is the career advice I wish I'd handed my nephew. His closing line stuck with me: your LinkedIn profile is not for you. 🎙️ Chapters 00:00:00 - Preview: LinkedIn personal branding from a 20,000-post ghostwriter 00:01:14 - Why LinkedIn personal branding matters in the AI era 00:03:07 - How LinkedIn helped Shoaib build a million-pound business 00:05:30 - Why AI slop creates an opportunity to stand out on LinkedIn 00:07:55 - Should you use ChatGPT or Claude to write LinkedIn posts? 00:11:02 - How did Shoaib turn LinkedIn into a personal branding business? 00:13:31 - What do LinkedIn personal branding clients actually want? 00:15:06 - How to measure LinkedIn growth beyond impression 00:17:51 - Does LinkedIn personal branding have to start with the founder? 00:20:14 - Should you chase the LinkedIn algorithm, carousels, and trends? 00:22:17 - Why trust is the one thing AI and viral posts cannot replace 00:24:11 - The 90-minute research call for finding brand stories 00:25:53 - Why transformation stories build more trust than tips 00:27:03 - How to use AI to turn your life story into content ideas 00:28:30 - Real AI founder example: building a five-pillar content strategy 00:29:47 - Content pillar 1: the founder journey and lived experience 00:30:26 - Content pillar 2: the AI-native future of business 00:31:32 - Content pillar 4: venture building, leadership, and scaling systems 00:32:06 - Content pillar 5: podcast clips and AI thought leadership 00:34:23 - Why campaign-based posting beats waiting for inspiration 00:37:13 - Live LinkedIn profile roast: what needs fixing first? 00:38:44 - How to optimize your LinkedIn banner around your offer 00:40:33 - How to clarify your target audience and ICP on LinkedIn 00:41:26 - How to make your ideal buyer feel seen on your profile 00:43:13 - How to use testimonials, case studies, and proof on LinkedIn 00:44:43 - The three-part LinkedIn profile audit: outcome, audience, proof 00:46:41 - Your LinkedIn profile is not for you — the mindset shift Connect with Shoaib on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shoaibahmed21/ Grab his free LinkedIn profile checklist (details at 00:45:55) Ready Set Do: readysetdopodcast.com Subscribe on YouTube and Spotify.

Who has been a guest on Ready Set Do

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• JACKIE HENNING
• Subhabrata Debnath
• Anshuman Kumar
• Varun Negandhi
• Farah Fallah Toosi

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

4,658,466,567

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.7 / 5

3 ratings

Spotify

4.9 / 5

16 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 65 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

81

Social presence

0

YouTube

93

Engagement

32

Contact Ready Set Do

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Ready Set Do