How a Leap Finance Loan Powered Lokesh’s Global Career

I am Lokesh Naidu Jalagam. I completed my master’s degree in computer science with a concentration in information security and data privacy at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. I currently work as an it Security Engineer at TruStage. To finance my education, I took a loan. My financier was Leap, and I was glad to sit down with them to discuss my study-abroad journey.

Q. Tell us about your background

I'm from a well-educated middle-class family in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. My education up to the undergraduate level has been in Andhra, with a background in computer science. I worked as a programmer analyst in Bengaluru for two years before moving to the US to pursue my master’s degree, where I knew cybersecurity research was booming.

Q. What made you pursue your education abroad?

I felt like I was stuck, and I would learn more if I studied abroad. But my main reason was the work-life balance. The second main reason was that Indian freshers do not receive a good salary. The majority of Indian IT graduates will end up working in a consulting company that hasn’t changed its salary package in two decades. I wanted to support my family financially and take care of them, and I knew I would be able to do it better in the US.

Q. Why did you choose Leap Finance to fund your education?

I can confidently say it played a major role in helping me get to where I am today. The biggest reason is that it offers 100% non-collateral loans. I didn’t have to depend on my parents or their assets, and honestly, I didn’t want to burden them either.  I also had a conversation with one of their managers. He was very friendly and explained everything clearly and thoroughly. I received my loan within three or four days, which was impressive.

Unlike most other financial institutions that usually offer only 80% funding and expect the remaining 20% from the student, Leap Finance provided full tuition assistance. They even covered living expenses if needed. So yeah, that’s been a great experience overall.

Q. Can you tell us about your university life in the US?

Throughout my master’s journey, I can say that it was a good learning curve for me, not just technically, but also in aspects such as time management, financial management, and networking. It's a well-diversified nation, not just from India, but we have people from every part of the world. Everyone will have a different story.

What I really liked about North Carolina was the scenic views, weather, and affordable living costs. Here, you have the flexibility to take three, four, or even five courses, but the tuition fee is charged for only three courses. If you extend your program by an extra semester, you might spend around $10,000 more.

I also had the opportunity to work as a research assistant at the university, which paid me $1,600 per month.

Q. How was your job hunting process?

It was truly a roller coaster ride. I received my first job offer while still in my final semester, but due to a hiring freeze and several other reasons, the company had to reschedule my joining.

I graduated during a particularly tough time. Almost every company I reached out to was either going through layoffs or had paused hiring altogether. In fact, three of my job offers were revoked. Each time, they had to cancel after initial approval, I had to start the process all over again. This happened two, three, even four times.

After 2 months into my graduation, I was able to secure five full-time offers.

Q. How did you manage such situations?

I have one really good inspirational story to share. My parents, Dr. Ramanjulu Jalagam and Mrs. Reddi Kumari Jalagam, stood up against a group of people who attempted to take away our property in Tirupati illegally. I saw the way my father stood up against them, doing whatever he could to get a home for us. So I thought, if he could do such a great thing, why can’t I stand up for myself and put in some effort?

I was okay with working at 3 AM in the middle of the night or 5 AM early in the morning. I stood up for myself. I put my blood, sweat, and tears into it. Even though I kept getting emails saying, “Thank you for applying, we’re considering other candidates,” I didn’t stop.

I had to apply for around 2,680 positions within a span of three months. I maintained a tracker with columns like company name, HR or point of contact, the role I applied for, follow-up one, follow-up two, follow-up three, and the final result.  Out of the 2600 applications, 25 to 30 percent got converted to interviews.

Q. What was your strategy?

On LinkedIn’s job URL, there's a timestamp filter in seconds. For example, 24 hours is 86,400 seconds. If you change that to 3,600 seconds, you’ll see jobs posted in the last one hour. It’s not just about the number of applications you send. It’s about the quality of your application, not the quantity. Even if you're a strong candidate, if you’re not among the first 50 to 100 applicants, you might not get shortlisted.

When reaching out to HRs or Talent Managers on LinkedIn, don’t just ask for a referral with a generic message. Instead, highlight 3–4 key accomplishments or projects you've worked on, and clearly explain how they add value to your team, demonstrating why you're an ideal candidate for the role.

As a bonus tip, leverage tools and browser extensions like Simplify, Jobalytics, SignalHire, Hunter.io, and LoopCV to streamline and accelerate your job application process.

Q. How is your life right now?

One of my uncles, Mr. Ram Mohan Raju, always used to say that a loan is always a bane, and the sooner you get rid of it, the better your life will be. So, from what I have learnt throughout my master's journey, I was able to pay off my educational loan within 3 months and 25 days.

And then, as a reward for my hard work and out of my passion for cars, I bought an Alfa Romeo Tonale Veloce, and I live a comfortable, happy life. I even invited my parents to visit. They stayed here for around two to three months. I took them to Niagara Falls, New York, and Florida, as well as NASA and many other tourist spots. One amazing thing I experienced was seeing my parents’ happiness. I also have a better work-life balance working remotely compared to India.

Q. Would you say Leap Finance played a small role in your success?

I wouldn’t call it a small role — I’d say it was a big one. When there was no one to support me financially, not even my family or anyone else, due to various reasons, Leap Finance stepped in to assist. It was a great initiative that genuinely helped me when I needed it the most.