Breaking Into Tech Without a Degree: My Journey from ₹25K/Month to Senior Engineer at a Global SaaS Company

👋 Hey, I'm Mitesh Banka.

Today, I work as an SDE 3 (Senior Software Development Engineer) at RingCentral, contributing to frontend product surfaces in their global Events Platform. I own meaningful frontend scope, collaborate across teams, and shape data-driven user experiences at scale.

But this wasn't always my story.

Back in 2018, I earned ₹25,000/month at a small startup. I had no formal CS degree, no IIT/NIT tag, no mentorship, and no idea what a "career roadmap" even looked like.

All I had was a deep curiosity to build things, and the willingness to learn every single day.

🧩 My Unconventional Start

I dropped out of college not because I couldn't handle it, but because I didn't connect with the system. I was obsessed with building, experimenting, and learning by doing.

So I taught myself:

• HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
• Struggled through jQuery and PHP projects
• Then discovered React, and everything changed

I built tiny projects, broke them, rebuilt them, and repeated. There was no structure, just passion and persistence.

🛠️ My Early Stack

In those days, I worked with:

• HTML/CSS/JS (the basics)
• Ember.js, PHP, MySQL
• Deployed via AWS CLI and FTP (command-line deployments)
• Learned backend basics just enough to get things working

I didn't wait to master everything. I just kept shipping.

📈 From ₹25K to Senior Engineer

That first job paid ₹3.6L/year. What mattered more was how much I learned in those early years:

• I picked up fullstack responsibilities early on
• Asked countless questions and read a lot of code
• Started taking ownership of features, not just tasks
• Obsessed over user experience and performance

With each job, I pushed harder, took more initiative, and delivered more impact. Over time, the recognition followed.

Eventually, I joined Humantic AI, where I led fullstack projects in a product-first environment and grew into a more well-rounded engineer.

Today, at RingCentral, I work in a globally distributed team on frontend product work across RingCentral Events Post Event surfaces.

💡 From ₹25K/month to senior engineering in a global SaaS company in less than 6 years, without a traditional degree.

🧠 How I Learn (Even Now)

• Reverse-engineering products I admire
• Cloning real-world UIs from Dribbble/Figma
• Watching conference talks and deep-diving into design systems
• Reading production code, not just tutorials
• Keeping a habit of small but consistent learning

I don't finish every course. I just build things and move fast.

💭 Mindset Shifts That Helped

1. You don't need permission to learn or build
2. Consistency beats motivation
3. Your degree doesn't define your value, your output does
4. Ask for ownership, then over-deliver
5. Curiosity is your best asset

🧑‍💻 What I Do at RingCentral

• Lead frontend development across analytics/Data & Insights, Data Apps integrations, Content Hub, and Creator Lab surfaces
• Collaborate with PMs, designers, and engineers to ship user-focused post-event analytics, integration, and content workflows
• Support reliability, review, and production-minded delivery practices for the team
• Take ownership of planning, delivery, and execution for frontend scope

Working on a global SaaS product taught me how to balance tech excellence, business value, and design polish at scale.

🎯 If You're on a Similar Path

You don't need a fancy resume or elite degree to grow in tech.

What you do need:

• Relentless curiosity
• Comfort with uncertainty
• A builder's mindset
• Consistency in effort

Opportunities won't always knock, but if you keep building, they will find you.

📬 Let's Connect

If this story resonates with you, or you're trying to make your leap, I'd love to chat.

💬 Reach out on LinkedIn | Twitter | My Portfolio