Number 3, Again?
If you've read my last post, you'd know that I participated in a Hackathon for the first time and won 3rd place. I really liked the hackathon concept, to be honest. So when I found another ad for an HR-tech Hackathon but this time on a larger scale -- it wasn't just for company employees, it was a public hackathon -- I signed up and created a team called 'Expo,' just like the last one.
I started to receive requests to join the team. For a second, I felt like a talent scout, filtering through the requests. I accepted 5 fresh grads, wanting to give them a chance to experience a hackathon. But guess what? Just after day one, two teammates bailed on us due to exams and other personal commitments. So, there we were, a trio left to brave the storm.
It was just me, Mohammed (a MIS fresh grad), and Mohrah (a CS fresh grad). They're amazing. The hackathon wasn't very organized, but still, it was good. We worked hard on coding and bringing our idea to life, but I won't bore you with all those details. Initially, we planned to pitch our idea for 10 minutes, but on the last day, they told us we only had 4 minutes! How? So, we adapted quickly and managed to squeeze our presentation and demo into the time allotted.
Now, I can spill the beans on our idea - "Khadoom". It's not top-secret this time (lol). In short, it's an AI-powered chatbot designed to streamline HR tasks like connecting employees to the right department, automating requests, and handling complaints and announcements.
We pitched it to three incredible judges: one from Google (I hope to join Google one day!), another from Amazon (my favorite brand), and the last with over 15 years of experience in HR. They were amazing. After that, they informed us that only the team leader would brief the work to the rest of the teams at the final ceremony, where 22 teams participated.
The final ceremony started, and while I was satisfied with our effort, I didn't think we stood a chance with only three people on our team, especially since there were 22 full teams participating. But when they announced the 3rd place winner and called out 'Expo!' I was looking around to see where 'Expo' was. For a moment, I forgot that was us. Us? Third again! Alhamdulillah, but officially, I'm now tired of the number 3. Too many back-to-back 3s. Still, I'm thankful.
Next time Inshallah, I'm setting my sights on 1st place.
Lesson Learned: Dive in!
Just like last time, jumping in without knowing everything led to an incredible learning experience. Sometimes, the best way to learn is just to do it!
Catch you in the next one!
