Why I Applied for Tech Fellowship Though I am not a Good Programmer
Last May, I got an email from Major League Hacking, an organization that plans hackathons and tech events. I subscribed to receive their newsletter, which is why I am the first person to know if there are any upcoming events or competitions.
The email was about inviting me to join their fellowship program, which is a program that matches me with a tech company, such as Meta, and the work environment will be a real one; because I will work a lot with developers, product managers, and project manager from Meta (used to be Facebook).
MLH has offered three tracks, and one of them is production engineering. I was not sure I was qualified enough to join this program since production engineering is not my field. Basically, from what I read on their website, this field is more about Site Reliability Engineering and DevOps, a hybrid between software & systems engineering that works across product & infrastructure to ensure services are reliable & scalable.
However, I tried to apply and consider it for fun. If getting accepted, that means I am qualified, and I will join the 12-week session even though I have to learn harder than anyone else who is more experienced.
Not knowing what I was supposed to do, I could finish the required essay within 5 minutes. It looked like I have experience in coding for more than five years already (LOL, no, I consider myself a beginner). Also, the form asked me to upload my portfolio, Github, and resume. Additional questions they asked were why I wanted to join the fellowship program and why MLH had to consider me as the candidate.
The questions were similar to the interview question. It was hard if the questions were being asked in person. I preferred to answer it on the form because I am a writing-type person (haha, I guess how the term is called). And within 20 minutes, I finished filling out the form and uploaded all necessary documents.
For me, it is such an opportunity to get into giant tech company
One of the dreams that I want to accomplish (if not being restricted by visa policy) is to work in a tech company based on my choice, i.e., Meta and Twitter as a tech writer or UX writer. Even though the field I applied for in this fellowship program wasn’t related enough to a future job that I am looking for, it was fun to get to know more about what it looks like to work in a tech company.
Try new things during summer time
All opportunities are primarily open during summertime (in the US). As a student and future full-time job seeker, I don’t want to miss this chance. It is hard to earn more experience for free and, simultaneously, learn with others.
Additionally, I am not allowed to take a full-time job or internship, so the only way I can spend my time this summer is to utilize any possibilities around me.
Although I already have many things on my plate, from being a community manager to working on a fantastic game this summer, I think I would be glad if I still can get a chance to work on something outside my field (at least once in my life).
Test and review my coding skills in large scale
My coding skills only range from basic ones to a little bit of serverless knowledge and game development. I hope to bring something further to future tech development with these skills.
Furthermore, I thought it would be fun to try out a new project that has a larger scale, such as a VR project or Metaverse that Meta released. Although I am unfamiliar with that stuff, it would be cool to jump into this or their current project.
Earn experience working with functional cross-team
I used to work with a few people from different backgrounds or random students I knew from the hackathon. In this company, I hope to learn more from a variety of people that are not only tech people but also marketing and finance people.
Learning how to communicate across the team is highly important to ensure we deliver an excellent product.
Be strict with time management but still, enjoy each moment
Since it is not a long-term internship, I will try my best to learn, have fun, and connect with others :). The chance won’t come again. Next year, I will probably go back to my country, or I will work full-time, and at the same time, I will work as a baker. Who knows what’s the plan for the future.
If I get accepted, I can enjoy every moment; whether I like it or not, I will take it as a part of the learning process. Take it easy; it is not a lifetime chance :).
“Imagination belongs to hope. It’s the creative dance of possibility.”
— Sharon Weil
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