Why you should apply to nwPlus (regardless of your major)
My goal for this article is for you to get involved with tech regardless of your technical ability or major!
In Part 1 of this mini-series, I reflect on how joining nwPlus has changed my life trajectory by kick-starting my career in technology. After joining nwPlus, I learned more about software development, cognitive systems, data science, UX/UI design, and recruitment/hiring. Despite having a non-technical background — I am currently working in tech!
Hi there, I’m Carmen (she/her), a 6th-year Psychology major @ UBC, cmd-f logistics coordinator @ nwPlus, and Major League Hacking Coach @ MLH! I’ve been a part of the nwPlus community for 5 years as a volunteer, hacker, and executive since 2019. Throughout my 3 years on the nwPlus executive team from 2020–2023, I’ve been a HackCamp logistics coordinator and cmd-f logistics coordinator (twice). nwPlus is easily my favourite university experience and I would love it if it was yours too!
No matter what your background is, we would love to have you as a part of our team. nwPlus is more than our executive team. If you’re reading this after our hiring deadline and you want to be involved, you are always welcome to be a hacker, volunteer, mentor, sponsor, or a part of our media team! We can’t run our events without you.
Overview
This article is quite long so I’ve broken it up into multiple sections. Feel free to hop around or read a specific part! I’ll be talking about:
- How did a Psychology major end up at nwPlus?
- My nwPlus application journey
- My 5 tips for applying for nwPlus
1. How did a Psychology major end up at nwPlus?
In this section, I share my story on how I learned about nwPlus. I hope this encourages more non-technical applicants to realize that they can be involved in tech regardless of their major.
Learning about nwPlus
As someone who was in Psychology and who didn’t know how to code, I had never heard of nwPlus before. I found out about nwPlus after meeting my friend, Joice, before my first MATH 184 midterm. While I nearly failed that midterm (and class), I wouldn’t have discovered nwPlus without it.
At first, I was skeptical because it seemed like a tech-focused club. I had little coding experience and I barely knew anything about hacking. (Like the movies, I assumed it was cracking passwords). Thankfully, she had a solid sales pitch about how I didn’t need a technical background at all to go to their events. She sensed my hesitation and encouraged me to volunteer for nwPlus instead.
Getting involved with nwPlus
It felt less intimidating so I applied to volunteer at nwHacks 2019 and… got rejected. It was likely due to my limited availability for the event. They were looking for volunteers, specifically those who could stay overnight. My nwPlus journey could have stopped there but thankfully, there was another nwPlus event I could attend — cmd-f 2019.
While that was embarrassing, I decided to volunteer again for cmd-f 2019 and made sure I could commit more time to the event. I was intrigued by its mission of focusing on underrepresented genders in technology.
My first nwPlus event — cmd-f 2019
At cmd-f 2019, I was in constant awe at the event. It was the first iteration of cmd-f ever! I was in my second year of university and I had barely gone to any student-run events. I was shocked the event was 100% free because there was so much delicious free food (bánh mì and lots of Costco snacks) and cool swag available. Apart from my volunteer responsibilities, throughout the event, I attended workshops and learned more about careers in technology.
Why cmd-f 2019 was so special to me
It was empowering for me to attend a tech event focused on underrepresented genders and see myself represented. Admittedly, I had stereotypes of the people who belonged in technology but cmd-f changed that for me. It was the first time where I saw myself pursuing a career in technology. I had never expected it because I almost failed Calculus and I never considered Computer Science or technology in high school. Besides cmd-f’s mission statement, what stood out to me was seeing how the nwPlus team worked together to pull off an event for 250+ attendees. They had clear passion for the mission and I saw how happy the attendees were after going to the event.
I’m proud that I’ve been able to be involved with cmd-f since the beginning. It’s been a full circle moment with volunteering at cmd-f 2019, hacking at cmd-f 2020, organizing cmd-f 2022 virtually and cmd-f 2023 in person! We celebrated cmd-f’s 5th anniversary and our first in-person hackathon since the COVID-19 pandemic this year too.
2. My nwPlus application journey
In this section, I will talk about my application process! I started as a volunteer and ended up on the executive team. I reflect on not getting into nwPlus my first time and what lessons I took out of this experience.
My first time applying to nwPlus
After my wonderful experience at cmd-f 2019, I decided to apply for nwPlus. I knew the club was special but I was unsure about the roles. I panicked when choosing my first choice and chose something that didn’t fit me. It didn’t help that I was new to interviews and I was too nervous. Sadly, I didn’t get in. I was devastated at the time. In the meantime, I was able to join other CS clubs and become a Computer Science teaching assistant for the first time.
My nwPlus experience as a volunteer and hacker
Thankfully, I was still able to be involved with nwPlus as a volunteer and hacker. It was difficult after being rejected but I gained valuable insights into how they ran their events and what made nwPlus so special. At nwHacks 2020, I handed out tacos to over 750 hackers and at cmd-f 2020, I participated as a hacker for the first time. I wouldn’t have been able to be a hacker if I had gotten into nwPlus (organizers aren’t allowed to participate as hackers). After gaining more experience and knowledge, I worked up the courage to apply again the following year.
Learning from my mistakes — reapplying to nwPlus
Looking back now, I can reflect on my mistakes. Getting rejected allowed me to explore what I wanted to do in the future through being a Computer Science teaching assistant, other clubs, and finding my passion in tech. Had I gotten into the club the first time, I would have been stuck in a role I disliked and wouldn’t have enjoyed the club either.
Re-applying the second time gave me the determination and confidence that I was capable and the knowledge of what I wanted to get out of nwPlus. If this isn’t your first time applying for nwPlus, I want to encourage you to try again. It can be competitive to join nwPlus because we’re a small club. I know I had my doubts about re-applying but I’m grateful that I gave it another chance.
3. My 5 tips for applying for nwPlus
In this section, I go over my tips on applying for the nwPlus executive team!
While we are a tech-focused club, we want to create a diverse team to make our events more inclusive for everyone including you! Besides me, we’ve had nwPlus members with majors in Kinesiology, Economics, Environmental Science, Media Studies, Genetics & Immunology, Business, and more. We would love to have you regardless of your major!
- Read over the hiring package carefully and consider these questions when deciding your first and second choice. Why do you want the role? What can you bring to the role? What could you learn from the role? This will help with the written responses and we’ll learn more about you!
- If you’re new to hackathons, read about them or try it out! We have many Medium articles on hackathons! SFU will be hosting StormHacks happening on May 20–21 2023. Major League Hacking (MLH) runs weekly virtual hackathons and Global Hack Week every month! (Disclaimer: I do work at MLH but they are a great resource to learn more about hackathons!)
- Get to know us. Familiarise yourself with what we do by looking through our social media, Medium articles, and websites. Our Medium articles have lots of incredible history about nwPlus! Even if you haven’t been to any of our events, we want to encourage you to apply!
- Get to know each hackathon for logistics roles. If you’re interested in a logistics role, I highly recommend going through each hackathon’s website and figuring out which one stands out to you! Are you interested in empowering beginners (HackCamp) or underrepresented genders (cmd-f)? Maybe you’re passionate about empowering the largest group of hackers (nwHacks)!
- Don’t worry about being non-technical. If you’re on the fence about applying, I highly encourage you! We value passion over experience. Skills and experience are always secondary to who you are as a person, and that’s what matters to us. Most of our roles are non-technical and your non-technical major does not put you at a disadvantage. You can share your perspective as someone new to hackathons or tech!
You can apply for the 23/24 nwPlus team here.
Applications close at 11:59pm on April 13, 2023.
Read our 23/24 Hiring Package for full details of each role
Get your applications in soon because interviews are on a rolling basis!
If you’ve read the whole article, give yourself a huge pat on the back and don’t forget to drink some water (or bubble tea) to stay hydrated! I hope I’ve managed to convince you to be involved with nwPlus or learn more about hackathons. Best of luck if you decide to apply!
If you’re interested in more about my tech journey, come back for Part 2! It’ll be an even more reflective piece on how nwPlus changed my life trajectory. I’ll be discussing my top 3 non-technical initiatives, my nwPlus journey, and giving resources on where to learn more about hackathons!
I’m graduating this year and I’m so excited for nwPlus’ future. As a nwAlum now, I’ll be supporting nwPlus’ future journey for many years to come!
Words by Carmen Xu, outgoing cmd-f logistics coordinator 2022/2023.
Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn if you’d like to chat about nwPlus, UBC, BrainStation, MLH, Psychology, and more! P.S. Feel free to mention this article in your application/interview for extra brownie points.
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