A 24-year-old Indian developer’s quest for a remote job took a disheartening turn when a US-based firm rejected him solely due to his accent. Tushar Verma, a resident of Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, had been actively applying for roles across online platforms after his previous employer faced budget constraints. Speaking to hindustantimes.com, he said he connected with an American recruiter on social media for a junior developer position offering a monthly salary of $4,000 (approximately ₹3.3 lakh). However, despite the recruiter praising his portfolio and technical skills, the opportunity was abruptly cut short over language delivery.
“I am an Indian dev, 24 years old, looking for jobs again because my previous company has some budget constraints, so after that I was looking for jobs here on Twitter, Wellfound, YCombinator, and other platforms as well,” said Verma.
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Talking about his job hunt process, he shared, “I generally apply to 20-30 jobs per day as it helps me to write unique cover letters for each company. Also, I can research the company I’m applying to more thoroughly. This includes cold dm to founders and companies as well.”
He came across an opportunity to connect with a founder while searching for “hiring” on X. He sent a DM to the US founder and received a reply at midnight.
“So I sent him a dm and he replied to me at midnight, so I replied to him in about 7 minutes of his ‘hii’ below my cover letter message.”
Verma recalled, “He told me he is looking for a junior developer with a $4000 per month salary. And that’s the exact amount I was looking for.”
The founder asked Verma to share his intro video. As he already had a video about his work, Verma forwarded it to the potential employer without delay. He also shared his website, “tusharsoni.com,” featuring his portfolio.
After reviewing the video and the portfolio, the founder said that, though he liked Verma’s work, he has an issue with his accent.
“Okay, as you know, I am looking for someone who has good communication,” the American told Verma over text, adding, “Like American accent.” The founder further said, “But you know your accent is very strong like shi.”
Verma, while sharing his story on social media, also wrote, “Got rejected for an interview due to my accent! Recently I cold Dm’ed a founder, and he saw my wellfound AI interview video, but he rejected me to even have an interview even though he seemed to like my portfolio and skillset. Wild Times.”
Recalling his experience, he told Hindustantimes.com, “I told him that I was working in US-based companies for the past 2 years then… he said we need an American accent only who can communicate easily, I mean I can speak decent English. I’ll put myself in the intermediate category. But yeah, anyways. That’s the whole story behind it, and I posted it on my Twitter so that people can be aware of such experiences.”
Social media reacts:
An individual posted, “Insane man. Why does accent even matter, that too for a startup which might cease to exist tomorrow?” Another expressed, “Trust me, it probably was not worth your time. These thoughts really reflect what type of culture is present there. All the very best.”
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A third commented, “What?! This still happens. I watch your YouTube, you have a pretty good accent, and I am able to understand clearly.” A fourth wrote, “Lol, this has happened to me too.”
