Tips for your first Hackathon
A hackathon is a collective experience where multidisciplinary professionals gather to achieve a common goal within a predetermined amount of time. Diverse profiles can participate in this experience: software developers, product owners, project managers, marketing, sales, human resources, or business specialists. And regarding the challenges, they are extremely varied: from developing MVPs of products, developing business ideas, and technological solutions to improve the quality of life for specific groups, to solving particular problems that the organizing companies face, and much, much more.
A hackathon is an event where you can connect with people with your same interests, learn, have fun, do some great networking, and if all goes very well, you might even end up with a job offer from the organizing companies. This is because, in addition to testing your hard skills, you can also showcase your soft skills, and we know that both are essential for belonging to a work team and that companies are always in search of talent. If you’ve already decided and will participate in your first hackathon but don’t know how to prepare, here are 5 tips for your first hackathon.
Tips for your first Hackathon✨
Don’t be afraid if no one goes with you
Don’t worry if you don’t have a team yet because, in addition to the organization creating one for you, at the hackathon you can connect with people with your same tastes and interests. It’s a wonderful opportunity to meet cool people (like you) 🤭 and learn.
Be clear about your strengths and weaknesses
Be clear about your capabilities! Even if you’re not an expert, there are many things you surely do well, and being clear about those points will be defining when it comes to, together with your team, defining objectives and dividing tasks to be performed. Remember that we are racing against the clock! If you speak well in public, you set up the pitch; if you’re good at design, you do the ppt; if your thing is code, then tinker until you get a tool and document the process. We all contribute: We have a team! 🙌
Check everything before starting work
Check your internet, whether it’s through an Ethernet cable or Wi-Fi connection; have chargers handy, headphones/earphones to communicate with your team via Discord; log into everything you might need: Trello, Google Drive, Canva, WhatsApp, Discord—everything you think you might use! Have everything ready and you won’t waste a second recovering a forgotten password.
Don’t waste time in the initial phase ⏳
During the initial phase, you will have to define, through brainstorming, what project you want to carry out during the designated time.
If you have a project idea beforehand, share it with your team; they surely will also have some idea in mind. It’s time to choose the most viable one to perform based on the team’s skills and start developing it.
Don’t neglect your health 🤒
You might think it doesn’t need to be clarified, but think again. It’s important to emphasize that while participating in the hackathon, you shouldn’t neglect your mealtimes and sleep well. Every now and then, do some back stretches and get up from the computer at least once an hour. Walking, even if it’s in circles, will help you think! And no, please, don’t get stressed and understand that this is just another game and the important thing is to participate. The hackathon was born to learn, have fun, and meet people like you.
Enjoy the journey, and go for it❗❗
Will I see you at the next hackathon?