Post COVID-19, the top IT companies and start-ups are hiring through virtual hackathons where candidates are tested on the basis of their knowledge and skills in high power events. Catering to this change, Board Infinity, a career exploration platform recently organized a series of virtual hackathons called ‘Decode’. These hackathons were organised to enhance practical understanding of the basic and advanced tools like Microsoft Excel, Python, Tableau and Machine Learning. This helps them to build a strong portfolio and secure jobs.

Decode saw more than 2000 registrations and participation of more than 800 learners who completed the hackathons successfully. These hackathons were conducted around topics like Exploratory Data Analysis using Python, Advanced Excel Features, Feature Engineering, Linear Regression etc.  Each hackathon was spread across a period of 2-days lasting almost 48 hours. The participants were given a brief on the problem statement by an industry professional. After two-days, students submitted their solution and the winners were announced. An individual online session was also held with the coach for a detailed discussion.

Akshay Asodekar, a student studying with Board Infinity and a participant in the virtual hackathon says, “As a learner, it was an amazing experience to participate in Decode 6.1 Hackathon based on python programming. It was the first time I took part in a virtual hackathon which gave me a platform to test my skills. Looking forward to such amazing hackathons in future.”

Rahul Padwani from BITS Edu Campus says, “In the last two years, I had heard from a lot of friends about hackathons, but never experienced one for myself. Decode 7.0 (based on Excel) was the first hackathon that I participated in. It was very challenging at first and I learnt a lot of new ideas while trying to solve the problem statement. But I’m glad that I decided to take this opportunity to grow my skills.”

According to Abhay Gupta, Co-founder, Board Infinity, “Today, gaining practical exposure to problem solving is very critical. The hackathons help our learners acquire various important skills like working under pressure, collaborate with their peers, solve real life problems apart from practicing various tools. This also helps the learners evaluate various career paths.”

He further added that each learner is different and has a different way of grasping topics. Our live lectures are conducted by industry professionals, but sometimes, getting practical experience just brings everything together for the learner. We’ve seen that 70% of the students’ learnings have come from practical experiences like hackathons, assignments, quizzes, projects, etc.”

These virtual hackathons also provide students with the appreciation and recognition that they deserve. In the process, they build up projects that they can use in their portfolios and present to possible future employers.

Also read: Board Infinity has introduced microlearning to enable education continuity