Hackathons are tools that drive creativity and innovation by tackling challenges to provide solutions. In a hackathon competition,  individuals with similar interests collaborate to deliver a solution to an existing or predicted problem. The hackathon organizers, sponsors, or partners usually outline the challenges and the judges decide the winners after the presented solutions, provided criteria and guidelines are met. It is an opportunity for creatives and innovative minds to leverage communication, teamwork, and presentation skills to solve problems and challenges quickly.

HOW HACKATHONS WORK

Hackathons are carried out online, onsite, or hybrid depending on the sponsor. When COVID-19 brought the world to a standstill in 2020 and different country-specific restrictions and measures were put in place, most hackathons were organized virtually. But in recent times, there has been a gradual return to fully onsite hackathons. 

The various technologies, tools, and challenges that participants can use and work on are announced 1–2 days before the hackathon begins. Partners and sponsors introduce the challenges to all participants including important information regarding the competition even if you don’t understand the challenge to work before coming, the explanations will dig deeper into them for you, so listen carefully.

Eventaully, each hackathon submission is judged by a metric to determine the winning team or solution. The success metric is measured differently depending on the organizers, judges, or themes. Common metrics used include quality of prototypes, minimum viable product(MVP) development, website functionality, improvement in engagement scores, reduction in implementation time, and Participation metrics.

TYPES OF HACKATHONS

Hackathons come in many forms and depend on the objective, goal, or sponsors. They all fall into one of the types listed below:

Niche/Theme Based: Niche or theme-based hackathons are specially crafted by single or multiple sponsors to provide solutions to challenges by using a specified or company-created tool and resource such as API. Common theme-based hackathons include Finance, Healthcare, Diversity, and Open Source. For instance,  Digital Healthcare is a hackathon focused on driving solutions to the healthcare sector. The required outcome could be to create a web application, video game, or anything significant.

Custom Hackathons: A hackathon is custom if it addresses solutions to problems by leveraging a language, framework, or profile. For instance, a hackathon that uses a programming language such as Java, Python, or Ruby on Rails to solve a problem. In this type of hackathon, how you use the programming language is preferred above what you can build. For profile-based hackathons, this involve student-only or female-only hackathons that accept only people in those categories as participants to work on challenges or topics to claim a reward.

MISTAKES YOU SHOULD NEVER MAKE DURING A HACKATHON

To succeed in a hackathon there are mistakes you should avoid. These mistakes are not bound to first-timers or amateurs alone but also applicable to experienced hackathon participants and previous winners of one or more hackathons.

• Avoid changing teammates along the way or quickly selecting teammates based on their appearances, stickers on laptops, or gadgets. Doing this may jeopardize your team’s strength and efficiency since the competition is constrained by time.
• Avoid using tools that you and your teammates are not familiar with. Hackathons are good places to learn new tools but do not try to build using a new tool without understanding the basics of that tool, it might not end well.
• Avoid trying to build a solution that is too complex to be done within the stipulated time. You’d be requiring too much from your teammates.
• Avoid allotting unreasonable time frames for the accomplishment of major product milestones.
• Avoid working alone. Seek support from teammates, mentors, or sponsors when you have to.
• Avoid imposing your opinions and thoughts on your teammates without considering other alternatives from their perspective.
• Avoid prioritizing aesthetics over functionality.
• The hackathon rules are very important and must be adhered to if you don’t want your team to be disqualified. Familiarize yourself with the hackathon’s rules and fundamental problem statements.
• Do not repeat an already existing solution by modifying some features to wow the judges.

HOW TO WIN AN HACKATHON

Here are 10 tips for first timers, and experienced hackathon participants to ace any hackathon competition with ease

• Have a complete team: Diverse your team skills and abilities to include developers, UI/UX designers, product/project managers, marketers, and those with social skills.
• Teamwork is the key: Teamwork is important for winning a hackathon. Listen to the opinions of your teammates, appreciate their contributions and ideas, and be open generally to a variety of ways to achieve the same goal.
• Apply empathy: Be kind enough to understand your teammates, and discover their strengths and weaknesses to coordinate your team, delegate properly and motivate each other.
• Build only key components within the given time: Focus on building the key features the solution needs and distribute the most important features to your teammates, ensuring each team member knows what is to be built individually.
• Focus on the hackathon 100%: Hackathons are filled with distractions demanding your attention. You must stay fixed on the solution you are building.
• Appreciate the uniqueness of your solution: If you have a novel solution that you can pull off with the hackathon time frame then go for it and pay less attention to what other teams are building. Some might just be reinventing the wheel when there is no need.
• Prepare your presentation: Invest ample time to work on your presentation, including your demo, and make it as simple and interactive as possible. Your presentation is the second most important part of the hackathon, after your solution. Highlight the problem statement, key features, and why you made the product, how it works, and how it solves the problems of the end users”. 
• Document all the ideas: Write down the ideas, concepts, and complaints of each team member during the brainstorming session and use the Prioritization Matrix to pick between what is important and needed, important and not needed for the product.
• Gather some information: Gather basic knowledge of your sponsors, judges, and audience to help you customize your presentation and demo to fit their needs. Use social media sites like LinkedIn, X, and Pinterest or strike up conversations at the hackathon during lunch or Q&A sessions.

WHERE TO FIND HACKATHON RESOURCES

If you have been having a hard time searching for hackathons, here are some resources for you to explore.

• DevPost: DevPost is an epicenter for hackathons. It is stocked up with different types and categories of hackathons by level, length, theme, location, and status. You will also find guides, tricks, and tips for organizers and participants in hackathons.

• NaijaHacks:  NaijaHacks is a go-to spot for all things on hackathons. It offers guides on team formation, mentors, prizes, and workshops. It also has tutorials broken down into sectors including Blockchain, VR/AR, Machine Learning,  Mobile/Web Development, Hardware, Miscellaneous, and an introduction to Git for beginners.

• DoraHacks: This is the hub for Web3 hackathons, it features ongoing and upcoming hackathons to browse and participate in. Individuals and communities can also use their platform to host hackathons

• Hackathons International: Hackathons International is a global organization that provides problem-solving strategies, toolkits, and resources for participants and organizers to host/successfully participate in hackathons globally.

• GitHub: GitHub is a repository of hackathon projects and resources including tutorials, templates, code from past hackathons, and tools to help you practice your skills, and provide key tips to winning projects.  It is a good source of inspiration and insight into successful hackathon approaches. Typing “hackathon projects” into the search box on GitHub will return a curated list of hackathon resources.
• Stack Overflow: If you are encountering a coding roadblock, this is your centre for solution. Stack Overflow is an online Q&A forum for experienced and beginner developers. It contains several solutions to common problems. Whatever you are struggle with, someone else has faced it before and shared a solution on the platform.  
• API Docs: Application Programming Interface description documents include, tutorials, references, and examples that show and explain to developers what is possible with your API and how to use it. This depends on the hackathon theme or your project idea, you can leverage APIs from various platforms. Ensure to always refer to the official documentation for specific instructions and usage examples to be sure. You can check out Spotify documentation Spotify Web Documentation.

WHY YOU SHOULD PARTICIPATE IN A HACKATHON

Immediate Recruitment: Many participants in hackathons got jobs only by participating. Companies organize most hackathons to provide solutions to an existing problem or desire to launch a new product to target a market. The solution you build can come in handy, which can ultimately lead to you being recruited to continue the development of the solution.

Find out more: Due to the practical nature of hackathons, it provides a unique opportunity for beginners, intermediate, and experts to gain more experience and insights into a particular tool, application, or technology. For example, a participant may have theoretical knowledge of a programming language but may have yet to have the chance to apply it in a real-world project. By participating in a hackathon focused on that language, they can learn new techniques, best practices, and shortcuts from their peers.

Opportunity to Network: Hackathons attract a diverse group of participants, including students, professionals, entrepreneurs, and industry experts. Through team collaboration, workshops, and networking sessions, participants can forge valuable connections with people who share similar interests or work in related fields.

Build Technical and Problem-Solving Skills: Hackathons present participants with time-sensitive challenges that require innovative solutions. These challenges often span across a wide range of domains, from software development and data analysis to hardware prototyping and social impact projects. By tackling these challenges, participants can enhance their ability to think creatively, break down complex problems into manageable tasks, and adapt to unexpected obstacles.

Grow Your Social Skills: Hackathons foster a collaborative environment where participants must effectively communicate and work together to achieve their goals. Team members may come from different backgrounds, disciplines, or even countries, requiring them to bridge cultural and language barriers. Through brainstorming sessions, code reviews, and project presentations, participants can improve their verbal and written communication skills, as well as their ability to give and receive constructive feedback.

Launch a Career: Hackathons are real-world opportunities to meet your first and long-term mentors, business partners, and angel investors.  A hackathon is an opportunity to build a solution to a challenge that enables you to spot a market that is open to exploit creating a new career role for you.

Strengthen your Resume: Hackathon participation is highly regarded by employers as it demonstrates a candidate’s practical skills, creativity, and passion for learning. Including hackathon projects on a resume can showcase a candidate’s ability to work under pressure, collaborate with others, and deliver results within a limited timeframe. Moreover, winning a hackathon competition can further validate a candidate’s abilities and differentiate them from other job applicants.