Importance of Collaboration in Tech Space
Collaboration leads to growth which further improves your chance to get a high paying job by building great connections.
I cleared Hacktoberfest this year, a global Open Source event with almost lakhs of participation, yeah I finally did it.
Hacktoberfest is about working on any open-source project and opening 4 Valid PRs If they get merged then you won and else you don't. The prize for winners is a cool T-shirt or a Tree Planted in their name. Also, Hacktoberfest isn’t all about code. anyone who writes, designs, tests, mentors, or organizes offers much-needed support for open-source projects all over the world.
Hacktoberfest taught me the importance of being a part of the community. I got to learn so many new things and skills I wouldn't have learned alone.
I saw a lot of improvements in my different skill sets while collaborating and talking to new people, some of them are:
I was reaching out to new people for help and projects, so this made me learn the art of networking.
Improved my English and Writing skills by talking to different people on a regular basis.
Learned Git and Github which is a very important skill as a software developer.
Learned Time Management.
The thing is, though, networking is actually extremely beneficial for your career. You get to share ideas with professionals in your field, develop new skills, and even find new job opportunities.
That's why it's highly recommended that you become a part of a community of your choice and work with them because there where real growth happens in the community of like-minded people.
How to Collaborate? 🤝
Well, there are a lot of technical events happening all over the year may be inside or outside of your college or institution. Most, of the time it's just about how aware you are of all these things, one great way is to make a profile on Twitter because the technical community there is very big and you will learn a lot from them apart from making nice friends. Also, Discord is very popular among the international Tech Community, so you should also be checking its latest opportunities.
Working in Public 🧑💻
If you are working on any project or learning something, you should try to showcase ( and brag ) about it as much as you can on social media, because that makes other people in your community see you and indirectly you are improving your online presence, the result of it such that people get to know what are you upto, it also attracts potential recruiters or managers who are looking for someone who knows stuff.
Hence, it can help you build new connections, and open up new opportunities.
Participating in Hackathons and Open Source Events 💻
Participating in Different Events can help you meet new people and learn great skills at the same time. Hackathons are one such great way, basically, in Hackathons you have to create something new or work on an Idea in a limited time either alone or either with a teammate, and the best part is you don't have to worry about teammates in the online era, as most events support Discord community where you'll automatically find new like-minded friends.
Also, If there are no Hackathons around you can start contributing to Open Source projects. Open Source projects are basically Projects whose Code is available in the Public and anyone can work on that code. Several Big organizations like Mozilla, VLC, Chromium have open-source projects for people. It might look tough to work on them but there are mentors who you will find while working on the project and they are very happy to help you.
Some big Open Source tech events in which you can participate and meet new people and technologies are:
GSOC (Google Summer of Code)
Happens Every year for Open Source Enthusiasts to work on big open source projects. If you get selected for the program, then you will win a big cash prize of around 2000 USD.
Hacktoberfest :
Happens Every year in October to promote Open Source learning among students, all around the world. It's generally easier than GSOC and if you win you can get a T-shirt or a Tree planted in your name.
MLH (Major League Hacking): is the official student hackathon league. Each year, it powers over 200 weekend-long invention competitions that inspire innovation, cultivates communities and teaches computer science skills to more than 65,000 students around the world. MLH is an engaged and passionate maker community, consisting of the next generation of technology leaders and entrepreneurs.
That's it for now buddies, I hope you learned a lot about how collaboration improves your personality, skillset, connections and everything else you need to be the best in tech space 🥳