A career accelerator for India’s top software engineering talent.
Pesto is a 12-week intensive training program to help software engineers in India break into international tech careers via full-time remote jobs.
Student Stories
Pesto made me realize the importance of having a dream and working towards it. Not losing hope on a bad day, not getting too excited on a good day but working every day to turn your dream into reality.
I really got more experience than expected. I learned more in my first month at Pesto than I did in 5 years at college and worked with people from around the world. Honestly, I wouldn’t get this much experience from anywhere else.
Pesto taught me so many things. The soft skills will act as the icing on the cake over my technical skills for my entire career. I have a vision now. Pesto and my mentor David should be proud to have instilled this confidence in me.
How It Works
Screening
We start with a screening process where we test for software engineering fundamentals, English communication skills and an intense eagerness to learn.
Training
Once selected, students are expected to move to Delhi where they will begin our 12-week training program.
During training students will dive deep into software engineering best practices, get paired up with engineering mentors from the US, contribute to popular open source projects and learn the soft skills required to be an effective remote employee.
Get Hired
Students that pass out of training will work with our placements team to prepare for interviews, write resumes, negotiate salaries and get introductions directly to top Silicon Valley start ups.
Alumni
After graduation, Pesto Alumni become part of a powerful network where they can continue learn from each other and grow in their new international tech careers.
How much does it cost?
We believe in equality of opportunity. Therefore we do not charge anything up front. Instead we take a percentage of each students future income.
This puts us on the same same team as our students. The better they do, the better we do.
Full Stack Web Track
Dive deep into advanced JavaScript and learn modern web development best practices
node, react, redux, serverless, typescript, test driven development, mongo, git, graphql, continuous integration, and more
- ₹0 upfront
- 17% of salary for 3 years
- Total payments capped at ₹20,00,000
- Only pay if you make more than ₹15 LPA
Program Outline
- Schedule: 12 weeks, Mon - Fri, 9pm to 6am IST
- Location: Delhi
- New batches start every month.
Before starting training, every student should review our open source curriculum. This goes over all of the different topics that we will cover during the course. It is meant to be a brief overview to introduce students to each topic. Students are expected to review this fully before their first day.
For the first four weeks we will go over all of the pre-training curriculum in depth. This will be extremely fast paced as it is expected that students are at least somewhat familiar with each topic before showing up.
Students will be working in teams designing, building and shipping a real full stack application. This exposes them to real world examples of the type of work that will be expected of them after graduation.
Every pull-request that students make will have to pass a rigorous code review by our senior engineering staff. This helps students learn best practices around application architecture, JavaScript design patterns, build tooling, testing and clean code.
We have reached out to the maintainers of a variety of open source projects and put together a list of projects that need student help. Each student will choose one of these projects. They will then spend their last four weeks making meaningful contributions to their chosen project guided by Pesto teachers and the projects maintainers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if I don't get an offer for ₹15 LPA?
We feel if you don't get a job paying at least ₹15 LPA, our training program isn't good enough and you shouldn't have to pay for it. You won't pay anything.
What is the average salary of a Pesto alumni?
The average gross salary across our alumni is currently ₹31 LPA.
Do you teach other languages besides JavaScript?
Right now, no. However, students join Pesto from all different programming backgrounds and can work with other programming languages after graduation (Python is in particularly high demand right now).
We look at JavaScript as just a teaching tool. What we really teach is how to be an excellent engineer by global standards. An excellent engineer can pick up new languages and frameworks as needed to get the job done.
Who are your instructors?
Our instructors are dedicated, full time, expert engineers that have worked on products that have touched millions of people.
We also live stream in expert engineers from Silicon Valley to do tech talks and guest lectures.
Who is Pesto for?
Our typical applicant has a computer science degree and at least one year of related work experience outside of internships. Many applicants have multiple years of professional software engineering experience.
However at the end of the day, we only care about results. If you do not come from a traditional educational or work background but are a strong programmer and a good communicator, we want to hear from you.
What happens if I quit the program? Do I still have to pay?
If you quit or do not pass performance reviews within the first 2 weeks of training, you will not be bound by the income share agreement. You will pay ₹0 and we will go our separate ways.
This allows anyone to try Pesto risk free. We believe that if you don't find our training valuable, we don't deserve your money.
Why is the program overnight?
At Pesto our goal is to prepare engineers to work with the best software companies in the world. Many of those companies are in Silicon Valley. We time adjust our program hours to match Silicon Valley working hours. This prepares engineers for the real world constraints that they might encounter in their new remote jobs.
Night shifts are a common practice for doctors and nurses in hospitals because that is what is required of them to get the job done. As a Pesto engineer, sometimes working odd hours to coordinate in real time with your teammates before a product launch is what is required to get the job done.
Do I have to work overnight after I graduate?
No. We recommend that graduates match the timezone of their employer when they first join a new team. However, after you are on-boarded and productive, most employers don't care what hours you work.
Will I have to relocate to Delhi for training?
Yes. This program is on site in our Delhi offices and full attendance is required.
Am I allowed to work from anywhere after I start my job?
It depends on the employer. Most let you work from anywhere as long as you stay productive. You ultimately choose which companies to interview with and which offer to accept so you can pick one that doesn't care about work location if that is important to you.
Can I do this program along with my college/job?
No. Pesto is a full time commitment. You will not have time for another job, freelancing or college classes. If you are currently a student, you should apply after you graduate. If you are currently working, the expectation is that you will quit your job to focus fully on your training.
Will I have to pay any fee upfront?
No. There are no upfront fees.
However, we request a fully refundable deposit of 10,000 INR once you get selected to confirm your batch. We do this because we’ve limit spots in the program and we need to make sure someone else can’t take away this opportunity from you by false confirmations.
We refund the full amount of 10,000 INR when you join the batch.
Do I need a computer science degree to apply?
No, we don't care what degree you have. However, we do expect you to have a strong understanding of computer science fundamentals. Our application process includes a technical assessment that will make sure you have the required level of understanding. If you are unsure, you should just apply. If you are unable to pass the technical assessment the first time, you can self study from our open source curriculum and re-apply again in 90 days.
Do you provide accommodation in Delhi?
No, we don't provide accommodation. However, many students come from out of town and we have a few short term accommodation providers that we work with that will be able to provide you affordable housing options near our training center.
How much should I budget for my living expenses during training?
The training program is 12 weeks long. However, you should expect to spend another 2-6 weeks after graduation to go through the interview process at various companies and another 2 weeks after you accept an offer before your start date. In total we recommend budgeting for 20 weeks of expenses before your first paycheck.
Income Share Agreement FAQ
How does the income share agreement work?
You agree to share with us 17% of your salary for 3 years. You will make 36 monthly payments based on your estimated income. These payments will be verified every year by your tax return and over or under payments will be adjusted accordingly.
If you are making less than 125,000 INR (15 LPA yearly) in any given month, you pay nothing for that month. After 5 years, the agreement expires, even if you never made all 36 payments. This means that if you aren't making over 15 LPA, our training will be free.
The agreement also caps payment at 2,000,000 INR so you will never pay more than that.
What if I am not making more than 15 LPA?
If you do not earn more than 125,000 INR (15 LPA yearly) in a given month, that's fine. We do not collect any payments for that month.
Do I have to accept my offer from hiring partners?
No, the income share agreement does not bind you to any one company. In fact, you don't have to accept an offer at all. This is why we structure the agreement as 36 paying months over a 5 year period. It gives you flexibility to do what you want. You are free to start your own company, travel, etc.
Do I have to work for the same company for three years? Can I switch jobs?
Nope, how long you decide to stay with a company is between you and that company. If you love it, feel free to stick around. If you don't, you are free to leave.
What happens if I don't pay?
If you are earning income over 15 LPA and do not pay your ISA, after a certain number of days we consider you in default. This means you owe the entirety of the maximum payment amount and we will pursue that amount to the fullest extent of the law.
Can I end the contract early?
Yes. If you would like to end your contract early, you can pay the amount equivalent to the payment cap on the contract minus any payments already made plus any outstanding fees.
How will you know how much I earn?
We verify your income based on your tax returns, bank statements and payment slips. We will then adjust that year's payments accordingly.