Most people grinding through a tough job market send 300 applications and wait. Deep Suchak bought a one-way ticket to San Francisco.

No offer. No contacts. No couch lined up past the first week. Just a read on where the opportunities actually were — and a conviction that showing up in person would do what a perfectly formatted resume never could.

In this episode of Ready Set Do, Deep walks me through the whole story. The decision to leave, the first freezing weeks of uncertainty, the cold office walk-ins, and the moment the strategy actually started working. (And yes, there were plenty of moments where it really looked like it wouldn't.)

Here's what makes his story worth paying close attention to right now: the job market in 2026 is brutal for recent grads. Remote-first hiring has made proximity feel irrelevant. Most career advice tells you to optimize your LinkedIn headline and apply through the portals. Spray and pray. Hope the ATS doesn't eat your file.

Deep went the other direction entirely.

Deep calls it proximity strategy — the idea that physical presence in the right city, combined with genuine cold outreach, creates a shortcut that no algorithm can replicate. It sounds almost too straightforward. And yet the results speak for themselves.

We get into the full mechanics of how he pitched himself into rooms, how he approached networking when he knew absolutely nobody in the city, and how he mentally handled the long stretches where nothing seemed to be moving. There's a section on the GTM Engineer title that's genuinely clarifying if you've been seeing that term everywhere and still aren't entirely sure what it looks like day-to-day. We also dig into SEO strategy for early-stage startups — which came out of his actual work, not as a side tangent.

What I keep coming back to after this conversation: the job search tips that actually work in 2026 are not the ones being taught in career centers. Cold outreach for jobs, done with a real point of view and a willingness to physically show up, still works. Relocating for a job before you have it locked down still works. The candidates getting hired right now are treating the search itself like a growth problem — not a waiting game.

Deep solved his. And he's generous enough to share exactly how he did it.

If you're a recent grad, early in your career, or just exhausted from sending applications into the void — this one's for you.

🎙️ Ready Set Do | Host: Naman Pandey | readysetdopodcast.com

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00:00 Navigating the Job Market: Strategies and Challenges02:17 The Power of Networking: Building Connections05:06 The First Month: Adapting and Overcoming08:05 The Interview Process: Preparing for Success11:07 Pitching Ideas: The Art of Growth Strategy13:58 The Role of a GTM Engineer: Demystifying the Title17:00 Reflections on Risk and Resilience19:47 The Importance of Persistence: Never Giving Up30:40 Implementable Steps for GTM Engineering34:44 SEO Strategies for Startups