QWER Hacks First-time Hacker Resources

Dear first-time hacker,

If QWER Hacks is your first hackathon, this is the right Medium post for you! QWER Hacks is many people’s first hackathons, so you’re not alone ❤

The QWER Hacks team has compiled some useful resources for first time hackers. We hope you find these useful. Stay tuned for additional resources coming soon on our Medium!

First, you may find it helpful to read through some tips on your first hackathon, or maybe you would enjoy reading this hackathon survival guide!

Our affiliate, Major League Hacking (MLH), has put together this handy ultimate hackathon packing list, as well as a post about how to get the most out of your first hackathon.

Based on hacker feedback, QWER Hacks is known for our amazing mentors, so make sure to lean on them for support and ask them as many questions as you can think of.

Here are some questions to ask your mentor(s)!

Project Ideation

• How can I frame my idea to benefit marginalized communities?
• I have an idea, but can you help me think of how to make it more of a long term solution?
• Can you help my team split up roles and create a timeline for our tasks?

Technical Questions

• Can you help me fix this bug and explain to me what is going wrong :)
• Can you walk me through some frontend/backend basics to get me started?
• I am trying to do XYZ but I’m stuck, can you help me please?
• Which language/framework should I use for this project?

Judging Criteria

• What feedback would you give us for this section of the judging criteria?
• How can I better accomplish XYZ, mentioned in the judging criteria?

Happy hacking!

With love, The QWER Hacks 2023 Team xoxo ❤