All about Twitter #DevelopHER India!
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”
This quote perfectly summarises my experience while applying for scholarships and how every rejection was a redirection to something even better. I remember applying to Twitter #DevelopHER 2020 but not getting through, and cut back to one year later, in 2021, I was one of the 30 girls selected across India for the second Twitter #DevelopHER 2021 conference. Undoubtedly, it is one of the most inclusive and impactful conferences I have attended that has contributed significantly to the representation of women in tech over the years.
Know the author:
Hi there! This is Manika Jain, a pre-final year student at Delhi Technological University pursuing Electrical Engineering with a minor in Computer Science. From the day I joined college, I have always kept one thought very close to my heart — explore everything along the way. Like every other kid trying to find the right mentor and guidance in their initial years, I joined Codess.Cafe in my second year, and it substantially contributed to my growth in shaping me into who I am and where I am today.
I am an incoming Software Engineering intern at JPMorgan Chase in their Scotland office. I love participating in hackathons and am incredibly passionate about building products that have a tangible impact on society. In this article, I’m going to explain the application process and every know-how about the Twitter #DevelopHER India conference.
What is Twitter #DevelopHER India?
Twitter #DevelopHER is Twitter’s annual conference for promoting diversity and inclusion in India. It is a two-day virtual event that includes interaction with senior leaders at Twitter, a fireside chat with women engineers (known as Tweeps 🐦), various sessions covering different aspects of technical development, coding challenges, and a lot more about Twitter’s culture.
Every year, the application opens from July to August, which entails a single-step process of filling out the online application timely with the latest resume. One of the most lucrative parts of the application for me was how straightforward it was and provided a platform for the candidate to showcase their strengths and weaknesses effortlessly.
I knew about Twitter DevelopHER since my sophomore year when it was introduced for the first time in India. After getting rejected the first time, I eventually realized what makes a good application stand out from the crowd, and here, I will be sharing all the tips and tricks with you on how you can make yours stand out too!
To prepare for the program, there are two essential elements critical to the application process: the first is filling out the online application keeping the eligibility in mind, and the second is creating an online presence to showcase and document your achievements and work, let’s iterate over both these points in detail.
Application Process:
Eligibility:
- The program is open for second and third-year undergraduate full-time female students studying computer science or related branches in an Indian university for the academic year 2022–23.
Application:
- The application is extremely straightforward and simple, covering resumes, LinkedIn, and Twitter profiles. Last year, 30 scholars were selected from an application pool of 10,000+ candidates based on their skills, online presence, and academic achievements.
- The application also covers a section for a video resume that is optional, where a candidate can speak about themselves for a time duration of 2 minutes and upload the same for extra visibility to the selection committee.
What stood out for my application?
Since the application for #DevelopHER only required a resume, LinkedIn, and Twitter profile, I always tried to document my journey and experiences on my social media profiles and volunteer for programs that elevated the representation of women in tech fields. They are on the lookout for girls who are highly passionate and active in STEM and have taken initiatives to help the community around them. Apart from updating my Linkedin profile regularly and my resume, some of the additional things that I did to highlight my application were:
- Undoubtedly, a resume here plays a huge role in making or breaking your application. I got my resume reviewed by many seniors to accommodate suggestions on how to create a stellar one covering my experiences, qualifications, academic achievements and skill set while highlighting my strengths at the same time. (You can find my selected template for resume here — Overleaf)
- I reached out to scholars from the previous years, i.e. girls who were selected for Twitter #DevelopHER 2020, and actively worked on their advice on how to cover different parts of the application efficiently. They not only shared their experiences with me but also helped me move in the right direction as a part of the process.
- Based on the suggestions received, I created a Twitter account a few months before the applications opened and regularly shared about several women in tech-related opportunities, mentorship programs, and skill development sessions and eventually added my Twitter Handle link to my resume while filling out the application.
- As mentioned, there was also an optional video resume segment where I uploaded a short video introducing myself and explaining why I deserved to be a part of the event and why they should select me.
And finally, the day of the event!
Since the conference went virtual this year, too, it didn’t deter the team from holding a fantastic and fun conference altogether! The retreat was scheduled from 16th-17th September 2021. Over 30 girls from diverse backgrounds and colleges across India were selected, and it was one of the most unique and warm experiences to be surrounded by these women in tech and be a part of their journey.
DAY 1: THEME: A day at Twitter
We had a jampacked schedule for our day 1 with activities ranging from Trivia quizzes, sessions with the senior engineering team at Twitter, building teams, and understanding how product development occurs at Twitter!
Opening Keynote: Apurva Dalal (Site Engineering Director, Twitter, India)
I couldn’t imagine the event being kicked off in a better way than by the talk by Apurva Dalal (if you are active on Twitter, you must have found his tweets extremely relatable!). I’m grateful to him for sharing his experiences in the corporate world, eventually how the prodigy found his place in Twitter and the journey along the way. His perspective and advice to be self-aware of our limiting beliefs will always stay.
Technical Interviewing at Twitter 101
One of the senior engineers then talked about some essential interview tips (especially for Twitter), starting from preparing a CV to the actual interview. We saw a demo interview between two Tweeps, illustrating the transition from a bad interview to a great one. We then paired up with another scholar and conducted a mock interview, and switched between being the interviewer and interviewee.
Interview approach:
- Clarify
- Think
- Code
- Test
- Improve
All the while communicating everything that passes your mind.
Twitter #DevelopHER Scholars get a direct interview with Twitter, and I personally found these suggestions to be very useful during the actual interview.
DAY 2: Investing in Yourself
Inclusion and Diversity at Twitter
As a woman in STEM, I personally related a lot during this session — the hurdles women face while entering the tech world, managing the corporate life, the bias, etc. This was an event of realising self-worth and not being scared of talking about your achievements, which we females are very hesitant about. We wrote 5 of our professional and personal accomplishments and, in small groups, talked about the top 1 from each category. It was an unparalleled feeling of saying the things in both categories and hearing others’ achievements. I hope to practice and conduct this activity with my peers! It was incredible beyond words.
Highlight: The reply of the women engineers to Imposter Syndrome- “It’s okay. Somebody made the mistake of hiring me, so I’m here, so I’m going to say it and do it!’ Loved her!
#ReadyCodeSet Coding Challenge
We were then paired up in teams of 5 for our coding challenge, with questions personally curated by the Twitter team. The coding challenge had five questions, and we were assigned a mentor to help us with hints and any blockers we faced throughout the challenge. For the entire 2 hours, we were super engrossed in the challenge, brainstorming so many algorithms, approaches, and ideas and finally were able to solve four questions out of the lot and secured third place! It was such a sweet moment for all of us!
In the end, we had our networking event where we interacted with a diverse set of Teams across Twitter like Quality Engineering, Core Data Metrics, Data Platform, etc. Since I have always been fascinated with the intersection of finance and technology, I interacted with the Revenue Engineering Team and how they manage the revenue generated with the help of technology across various platforms at Twitter.
Andddd, the perks!
- We got some amazing swags from Twitter, which were so beautifully personalised and curated by their team. I absolutely loved them!
- Post our event, all of us received the opportunity to interview at Twitter for an internship role, and the tips and suggestions during the conference helped out a lot during these actual interviews.
- I still keep in touch with my fellow scholars, where we regularly interact about our journey, even do some collaborations and have a lot of fun! So this event will surely give you a close-knit women’s community in tech, which is a blessing in disguise.
FINAL WORDS
The two days were absolutely amazing. I got to interact with some amazing Tweeps and scholars, ask them questions about their work and talk about my work. It was not only fostering to know it is okay not to know but also learning to talk about your achievements with pride instead of hiding them or feeling like an imposter. It has been more than six months since the retreat (at the time of writing this blog), and every time I see a post from a fellow scholar, it brings about a smile to my face of all the things they are doing! I have reached out to my fellow scholars for collaborations, and so have they. After a long time, it feels so great to be surrounded by people who talk about tech and life and deeply want to bring a change in the position of women and other minorities in the tech field.
I hope this article helps you ace your application process to Twitter #DevelopHER, and if you have any further questions, you can reach me on my social media handles: Linkedin and Twitter. You can check my work on Github and all blogs at Blogs. Happy Learning! ✨
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