Attending GHC’23? Here’s a detailed list of things to do!
So, I was among one of the thousands of young, enthusiastic and optimistic girls who attended the Grace Hopper Conference last year in Orlando, Florida. I was amazed, inspired and fueled with a drive to attend more such conferences in future as a result of my experience.
Let’s start from the beginning. I heard about the conference for the first time when I was in India through LinkedIn. I saw many of my connections updating their LinkedIn profile badges and posting about it. I was interested to know what it was and found out that it is a conference organized for women in technology coming from various spheres of life. It was a place for people from diverse backgrounds with a common interests to meet, exchange ideas, experiences and opportunities to work on those ideas. Since then, I have always wanted to attend GHC. Last year when GHC registrations opened I missed to register in the first round but luckily got tickets in the next phase where seats were open in mid-August.
Before going to Florida, I did a lot of research and prepared accordingly. I researched a lot about the conference, how to connect with people, join seminars, reach out to recruiters and prepare elevator pitch.
Here’s a quick-checklist:
- Build/update your resume. If you are targeting multiple profiles, keep different versions of your resume.
- Update/create professional network profiles LinkedIn, GitHub, Kaggle/Leetcode, portfolio.
- Make a list of companies and roles that you are interested in. Check AnitaB.org’s official page to get the name of companies attending GHC this year.
- Prepare your elevator pitch and practice it. Keep it short and concise. You can start with name, your current profile and then end with roles/jobs you are interested in. You can practice it with a timer too, try to keep in under 1.5 minutes.
- Be prepared to interview for a job if you are job hunting. Revise all the relevant topics and questions.
- Reach out to people who would be joining the conference before going there by letting people know that you would be attending the conferences too. You can post on LinkedIn that would give your profile more visibility.
- Listen to atleast one seminar/talk at GHC if possible.
- Meet companies outside of GHC by attending their networking events.
- Keep several copies of your resume(recommended count, minimum 30 copies). Many companies ask you apply on the spot using QR codes, so keep your soft copy also handy.
- Carry/wear comfortable shoes. The conference hall is very big and you’d be standing/walking all day.
- Keep small packets of snacks in your bag just in case you don’t get time to eat when they serve food.
- Try to make as many connections as possible by talking to various company representatives at their booths(send LinkedIn requests).
- Book your stay at the recommended hotels(free buses to/from the conference hall).
- Find people before traveling so that you can discuss and help each other.
- Have fun!
