From using LinkedIn to becoming LinkedIn CoachIn SRE Mentee

Hello readers, I am Bhaswati Roy, a pre-final year student pursuing Computer Science and Engineering from the Institute of Engineering and Management, Kolkata. I am a Google WE Scholar, Harvard WECode Scholar, and a LinkedIn CoachIn SRE Mentee. I have received a summer internship offer from ServiceNow for 2023 summer.

About LinkedIn CoachIn SRE Mentorship :

Many of you have heard about LinkedIn CoachIn Mentorship Program which is held every year for 2nd-year girls for providing them with mentorship by top tech minds. But this is for the Software Engineering track.

Last year LinkedIn introduced a mentorship program for another domain — Site Reliability Engineering (SRE domain). You can find more details about the program on the official website. Applications for SRE Mentorships open almost a month after applications for SWE open. A total of 20 mentees were selected for this Mentorship.

I remember not getting selected for LinkedIn CoachIn 2022 program which is why I was so excited when I came across this opportunity as this seemed to be a 2nd chance given to me.

Application Process:

I got to know about this program from my friend and applied from the link after a few days. A few days later, I got the test link via mail to give their online challenge scheduled for the 12th of April.

Online Screening Test:

Duration: 90 mins, 3 sections to complete

There were 15 MCQ questions in part 1 from Computer Fundamental topics like — OS, DBMS, Linux, Git & GitHub Commands, COA, and DS Real-World Implementations. There were 2 DSA Coding questions in part 2, and 1 essay question in part 3. The test was for 90min.

Since this is a Site Reliability Engineering domain so apart from DSA you also need to be proficient in core computer fundamental topics along with DSA.

Pic Credit: Cloud Academy

The DSA questions given in the test were leetcode easy questions and the MCQs were based on conceptual topics. I passed all the TC of the 2nd question and passed 12/15 TC of the 1st question. Due to lack of time, in the beginning, I couldn’t optimize the 1st ques, I straight away jumped to MCQs as they carried equal importance.

The essay was on the question — “What excites you about SRE. And what is your motivation to join this mentorship program?”. We were given to write a maximum of 400 words on it.

Tips for writing the subjective essay question:

1. It should be about your journey in the CSE domain and how you gained interest in pursuing CSE as well as SRE.
2. How did LinkedIn help you in your career like networking with people and seeking help from them?
3. How will the CoachIn program improve your skills and why do you need this mentorship?
4. What are the technical skills that the CoachIn program will help you to uplift?
5. How are mentorship programs like CoachIn helpful to improve diversity in the tech world and encourage more and more women to step into the tech industry?

I submitted the test almost 25min before the ending time. The OA is the main deciding factor as after this there is an HR Interview which indicates that most probably you are going to get selected.

Telephonic HR Interview:

The very next day on the 13th of April I got the selection mail for an interview for the next round. After almost a week I got the call but since that day I was at college so my phone wasn’t with me, I was unable to pick up the call. The very next day I got a call from them again and then they informed me that they are going to take my interview.

Some of the questions asked -

1. What excites you about the SRE domain?
2. How did you get to know about the SRE domain?
3. What are the subjects you have studied or are in your curriculum which are related to the SRE domain?
4. What do you expect from this mentorship?
5. Mention your best 3 achievements till today
6. Have you done any projects then describe 1 personal project.
7. Have you participated in any open-source programs or hackathons before in your development domain?
8. Lastly, she confirmed if I can give the required time to the mentorship.

In end, she asked me if I had any questions.

Selection:

A few hours later, on the very same day, I got the selection mail and I was extremely happy. I was selected as one of the 20 mentees from all across India. Not being able to give my best in the LinkedIn CoachIn SWE, and then ending up in LinkedIn CoachIn SRE, was like a dream come true for me.

We were given 6months of access to LinkedIn Premium and it’s very helpful. After this we got a mail to join the Opening Session held by them to introduce the mentees to the overall program and the SRE domain.

Swags :

During the program, we were sent a swag kit as a welcome gift for joining the program.

On 28th July, we had the closing ceremony of the 4-month-long mentorship program. The program was very close to my heart as it was one of the most insightful mentorships I have been a part of. With a heavy heart and lots of beautiful memories, I had to bid goodbye to this program.

If you have any questions, you can reach out to me through my LinkedIn or Twitter. If the blog was helpful, show some love and smash the clap button below, and do follow Codess.Cafe for more such articles.

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