Stop Being Shy: 3 Ways for Hackers to Get Recognition

Donating your work to a project — especially one for the social good — deserves recognition, or at least I like to think so. I would love to take a second to talk about a few ways for you to get some well-deserved credit for your hackathon work, because you’ve earned it.

Get Recommended

I’ve been exploring with the best way to leverage LinkedIn fully in both my personal and professional networking efforts, and I can’t stress this one enough. I really feel that LinkedIn opens doors that can be wedged shut if following traditional methods of outreach. I know that every platform has its pros and cons, which is why I didn’t focus this blog on LinkedIn itself. Instead, I want to stress how important it is to list your hackathon efforts in your online profiles. Include links to your projects, even if they’re half-baked — you’re not selling a product, you’re selling your own potential. In fact, I can’t even count the number of people I know who have been headhunted over the content that they’ve shared on their page or in their profile, rather than by having drinks or going to alumni events.

So how do you do this exactly? You can certainly put down your hackathon project as a volunteer experience or as a project under “accomplishments.” Beyond that, I would suggest contacting the event organizers or even your project team lead and asking for a LinkedIn recommendation. These individuals are in a position to speak volumes about what you contributed to the project and identify your key strengths. They are also some of your biggest cheerleaders, and they might even offer to connect you with others in your field that are looking for someone just like you!

Blog It Up

I think it’s so important to share experiences we have hackathon, including the good, the bad, and the ugly. There are so many stereotypes and assumptions when it comes to hackathons, which is why sharing what the actual experience is like can help clear up misconceptions and get more people excited about the potential for change. Blogging about your experience is also a great way to share the ideas you lovingly and excitedly hatched during the conference, and can not only establish your own creativity, but might help others build on those ideas for future projects, in true hackathon style.

When it comes to civic hackathons, the biggest piece for me is making sure that the magic of collaboration is thick in the air. I want to ensure that everyone feels welcome and feels included in the project they are working on. Moreover, hackathons include a ton of fringe benefits in the form of networking and participation. Whether it’s learning a new skill, developing a new project, or meeting some folks that can help you on your journey, there are so many positives to sharing how hackathons have influenced your personal and professional development.

In fact, that’s why I launched this blog because I wanted to use this as a platform to connect non-technical and technical folks, to be in a space that cultivates future innovations, and to design spaces for communities so that they can build the agency to create change.

Promote Yourself

By “promote” I mean in every shape or form possible — whether it’s telling your friends that you registered, photobombing the event photo, or posting about the event on social media while you’re there, wear your participation loud and proud. So often we forget to acknowledge the extra work we contribute and recognize how good it feels to be part of something larger. I love looking back at all the hackathons I’ve either attended or run to reflect on the people I met, the innovations we developed, and the problems we solved. These memories are so important and definitely keep me in touch with why I do hackathons in the first place.

The other point that I want to make with this is that while promoting the project you worked on, you can also promote the skills you used or even the new skills that you learned. These are powerful recruitment messages that you can blast out: “Hey guys, you already knew I was amazing, but look at what I can do in a time-crunch-high-stress-hackathon event working with COMPLETE strangers!” Talk about highlighting your soft skills to with collaboration, teamwork, and understanding nuanced dynamics.

I think this is so important that I’ve actually implemented rewards to ensure that the hackers at my events get their much-deserved credit. And rest assured your contributions are amazing! In my time working on hackathons I have truly met some of the most incredible people who continuously shape my life and take things to the next level with their passion to help the local community and to consistently be developing new ideas. I have so much respect for those with the stamina, heart, talent, and dedication to bring these ideas to life. Go hackers!

If you’ve participated in any of the hackathons I’ve been involved with and would like a recommendation, all you need to do is ask! I find it incredibly rewarding to elevate the voices of the doers and hustlers who want to make our world a better place. Want to co-author a blog together? Want to spread some social media love? I’m always happy to help! Contact me via: experimentalcivics.io