Hackathon: A thrill like no other
A hackathon, also called a codefest, is a social coding event in which computer programmers come together to develop an existing software program or create a new one. The word ‘hackathon’ is the combination of the words ‘hacker’ and ‘marathon’, which refers to brilliant coders competing in an endurance event.
Hackathons provide organizations with an opportunity to develop employee-driven ideas in a low-risk setting. Employees are given the liberty and assistance they need to brainstorm out-of-the-box ideas in collaboration with colleagues from different departments. Although the product needs to be generated in a specified time, there isn’t any pressure of delivering a practicable solution. Hackathons are occasionally held to accomplish a specific purpose.
1. The Adrenaline Rush
There is nothing like a hackathon that gives you that much-needed adrenaline rush. Constructing a stunning program solution from absolute zero can be a task exciting for not just programmers, but also absolute beginners. People are grouped into teams to jointly create a software program, that too in a span of up to 48-hours. An event without any sleep, plenty of food and lots of programming— a hackathon is programmers’ Promised Land.
2. The Participating team
Teamwork is essential to winning a highly competitive hackathon. Having the right team for events like this can be advantageous. Nobody is compensated for hacking. In decision-making, no one has ‘power’ or ‘leverage.’ Any team member can provide ideas without fear of repercussions. Like every team, some are about problem-solving, while others are about asking tough questions – and still, others are about waiting until they feel something important will happen – and then they astound you.
3. The Lessons
Hackathon provides you with immense learning exposure. It is a great opportunity to test your skills and enables you to build some great contacts. You get to know your weaknesses. Always the biggest discoveries have nothing to do with what one built, but what one learned along the way. Our mistakes – which never made it into the Final Submission – are the learnings I most want to go back and learn more about, and they help my ‘day job’ hugely.
4. Beefing up your resume
Prospective employers do not simply accept your mentioned education and career history at face value when examining a resume. They seek beyond that to construct your persona. As a result, by highlighting your hackathon participation, you establish your brand as someone who takes initiative, is a lifelong learner, and appreciates being challenged. Certainly, all of those abilities are valuable assets to any company and will serve as a differentiating feature in your application.
5. The Confidence
As Marc Andreessen says, ‘What if it does work?’ –that should be the lens through which you think about every situation, and a hackathon helps you build it. When you succeed in creating a solution from mere imagination in so little time, the feeling of confidence and optimism is unparalleled.
6. The new career avenues
Working on an intriguing project may inspire you to switch occupations. Apart from networking and tech conversations, big on-site hackathons offer corporate booths where you may approach representatives and learn about potential jobs firsthand. They are recruiting in the same manner that a job fair would but in a much more natural setting.
7. A network-intensive event
Networking entails building and developing long-term mutually beneficial relationships with people you encounter in diverse places. You may develop a lifetime connection while participating in an academic competition, attending a conference, or waiting in line for a morning coffee. During these few days of a hackathon, you will have several opportunities to meet individuals on a professional level, whether it is during team-matching sessions, eating breaks, or going for coffee together. And it might start even before the hackathon if it provides closed groups/messaging tools for participants to connect.
A hackathon is a perfect platform for people in the same industry to come together and learn from each other’s successes and failures. So, given all its wondrous benefits, a hackathon is an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed.
