From biology student to Senior Engineer at Microsoft’s LinkedIn | An Interview with Supongkiba Kichu

In MT’s interview with Supongkiba Kichu, we explore his inspiring transition from a biology student at Kohima Science College to a prominent tech professional. Initially focused on medicine, his fascination with apps like Facebook and WhatsApp led him to discover software engineering. After graduating in Computer Science Engineering from Bapuji Institute of Engineering and Technology, he began his career at Catchpoint in Bangalore, where he gained invaluable experience. This eventually led to a successful transition to LinkedIn, a business and employment-focused social media platform.

MT: Can you tell us about your role as a Senior Engineer at LinkedIn and what your typical day looks like?

Supongkiba Kichu: I work within LinkedIn’s Infrastructure Engineering department, focusing on building observability solutions to ensure the reliability and performance of our services. My day typically starts early with a brief handover session with my counterparts in Silicon Valley (US), where we discuss project statuses and any ongoing or recent incidents.

I spend a significant portion of my day writing and reviewing code, developing and enhancing our monitoring systems, and participating in incident management.

As a Senior Engineer, I also mentor and train junior engineers, helping them develop their skills and guiding them through complex challenges. I review their project design documents and provide feedback. Collaboration with various teams is a key part of my role, as we work together to resolve issues and design and maintain reliable systems. By 3 PM, I start wrapping up my tasks for the day.

MT: Tell us about your career journey and how you ended up working as an engineer at LinkedIn?

Kichu: Looking back, my journey began during my pre-university days at Kohima Science College (2010-11). Initially, I was a biology student aiming to pursue medical studies.

However, my attention was captured by apps like Facebook, Nimbuzz, and WhatsApp when I first got exposed to it. I often wondered how these platforms were created. Using my little 2G phone, I started researching and discovered Software Engineering, an engineering discipline I had previously been unaware of.

I also realized that I wanted to secure a job as soon as possible to start giving back to my parents and family, and a tech career path seemed the quickest and most intriguing way to achieve this. Therefore, I decided to take both the medical and engineering entrance exams.

To my surprise, I was selected for Computer Science & Engineering at Bapuji Institute of Engineering and Technology, Karnataka.

After completing my final semester exams in June 2016, I chose not to return home but stayed back in Bangalore to start applying for jobs. In the second week of my job search, I received an offer from Catchpoint, a New York-based startup that had just opened an office in Bangalore. I became one of their initial employees in the Bangalore office, marking the beginning of my journey in the tech world.

Although the compensation wasn’t great in the early days with heavy workloads, the skills I acquired, the people I met, and the experiences I gained at Catchpoint were invaluable and helped me get to where I am today.

After two and a half years at Catchpoint, I decided to look for my next venture and began applying to relevant positions. Fortunately, I heard back from a recruiter at LinkedIn, who informed me that they wanted to interview me. After six rounds of interviews over two days, I received a call a week later informing me that I had made it through.

There wasn’t much awareness or guidance in the beginning. However, I believe my curiosity and the support of my family played a vital role in shaping my path.

MT: What are some of the key projects you’ve worked on at LinkedIn, and what were their impacts on the platform?

Kichu: I’ve worked on several projects, but I’d like to highlight a few(briefly) which would be easy for readers to understand.

The first project was a system to improve content moderation on the LinkedIn platform. LinkedIn has strict content policies about what can be posted, and we use AI models to scan millions of contents daily to catch and block anything inappropriate or spammy. This project ensured these models worked efficiently and detected problems or anomalies proactively.

The second project focused on managing our server resources. LinkedIn has thousands of services running on hundreds of thousands of machines across multiple data centers. Keeping track of each service’s capacity needs is a huge task, so we built a centralized system that provides an overview of all capacity-related information and automatically alerts engineers when a service is using too much or too little capacity.

MT: What are the most important technical skills for an engineer in your field today?

Kichu: Well, the tech space is vast and rapidly evolving, with core skills varying based on your area of interest. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, as different skill sets are required at different layers that make up the internet.

For developing products (which is just one layer), a solid foundation in programming concepts like Object-Oriented Programming and Design Patterns & Principles will help you write better software. Again, different programming languages serve different purposes, so I’d say it depends on what you/your organization want to achieve.

Additionally, skills like general smartness, the ability to learn and unlearn quickly, and critical thinking are essential in the industry. With these qualities, I believe one can adapt and excel in any tech domain of interest.

MT: What advice would you give to young engineers or students aspiring to enter this field?

Kichu: Keep your curiosity alive and always be ready to learn because things change fast.

If you’re still a student, try to get hands-on experience with projects by interning/joining some organization or contributing to open-source projects.

Sharpen your critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Don’t sweat failure because it’s all part of the process.

Also, learn to embrace AI tools to boost your productivity.

MT: Are there any specific industry regulations or standards that you think are crucial for engineers to be aware of?

Kichu: Yes, engineers need to be aware of important regulations and standards, especially in areas like data privacy and security. For products aimed at a global audience, understanding regulations like GDPR and CCPA is crucial for protecting user data and ensuring compliance. Also, following standards like ISO/IEC 27001 helps establish strong security practices.

MT: Would you encourage more Nagas to join your field of study? How would you like to advise them?

Kichu: Absolutely, pursuing a career in tech is still quite uncommon for our Nagas because of how our society glorifies the career in the government sector. Despite technology being deeply woven into our daily lives—from smartphones and social media to smart home devices and e-commerce—we mostly remain consumers rather than creators and innovators.

It’s heartening to see a few tech startups emerging successfully from our state and we need to nurture this culture of innovation and entrepreneurship even further. We also need to instill an innovative and creative mindset in students from an early age; engaging in STEM activities could spark this passion.

Nowadays, you don’t need an engineering degree to create something; there are plenty of tools and resources available online to learn from. You may not join a big tech company, but you can always look around, identify problems and opportunities, and solve them using technology. This shift can lead to job creation and a stronger, more self-sufficient community.