Women Techmakers Engineering Fellows
“Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything.”
-Napoleon Hill
I started my journey in an unrecognized tier 3 college that was just founded and had no pass-outs till the year I arrived! I was demotivated, disheartened, and felt like life was somewhat over for me. But, no, hard work and passion speak for itself and yes now I am here to share my story.
At the beginning of March 2020 when the world was preparing for corona lockdown, and I was preparing for my 2nd-semester exams something wonderful happened. I got selected for “Women Techmakers Engineering Fellows” an initiative by TalentSprint and supported by Google.
“It is a two-year experiential program, which provides an opportunity for talented and motivated women engineering students to excel in the global tech industry.” Well, that is exactly what you will get on their website, but there is more to than just this much! It is a wonderful experience to be a part of this family and the perks are truly never-ending.
I come across people who are interested to know about the program and also know about my experience so here I am all ready to pen down all of it!
Where did I get to know about it?
I saw a Facebook post about the TalentSprint WTEF program and there was a Google tag in it. What do you want more to get started with the application? So, as quickly as I saw the Google logo, I started to read about it. It had few eligibility criteria for your application to be selected -
- Of course, you gotta be a girl, it is an all-girls program.
- You need to be from CSE/ IT branch and in your first year
- You should have above 70% in your board’s examinations
- And you should be enthusiastic about learning
All of the criteria were a perfect match with me, and yes I went on and applied for it.
What was the selection process?
The selection process was tough and had a lot of stages before you get actually on board. So, there was a 4 stage screening process.
- Stage 1 — They are going to screen your applications and look if you are a perfect match with all the eligibility criteria they have set for the program. This stage had nothing for us to do. It was the screening and reaching out to you if they feel you are a perfect match.
- Stage 2 — This stage had two separate tests to filter through. At first, there was a reasoning and aptitude test which had basic mathematics and logical reasoning tests. It happened online. The next process was English speaking and Communication test which tests your proficiency in English. It was also online.
Now, let me tell something hereafter every stage they would contact you through the mail and say about whether or not you cleared the stage, and if yes then when is the next stage scheduled.
- Stage 3 — This was the toughest part of the entire selection process. Here you have two weeks to learn a new language (Python) and give a coding test based on your online learning. They provided support for clearing doubts but they did not teach anything. It was you who needed to take the extra step and teach yourself in just two weeks and then appear for the coding test! The coding questions asked were standard and there were two parts for this test. One part had multiple-choice questions on python and the other section had three coding questions all of which needed to be solved in 2 hours.
- Stage 4 — The last and final stage was the online interview. We had our slots scheduled according to our convenience and their team interviewed us. The interview was based on a few technical questions on coding and a few other questions like “your motivation to join the program” and “why you are excited to be a part of it”.
Once you clear all parts of it, you will get a mail to confirm your seat with all the relevant documents, within the next 2 days. Once you do that, a new and adventurous journey begins for you!
What are the perks of being here?
The are many perks of being into this program.
- You get the google tag! Yes, it is as good as it sounds.
- You get taught by most experienced people and also interact with Google mentors once in a while.
- There are motivational sessions too along with technical sessions to uplift you.
- There will be four physical boot camps during summer and winter break which you are required to attend in person, in Hyderabad. Apart from that, there will be continuous online sessions for two years.
- You get to visit the Google headquarters at Hyderabad.
- The entire program is sponsored by Google for you so it is completely free of cost.
- Along with that each one of the participants attending gets a cash scholarship of 2 lac rupees.
How did I prepare to get into the Program?
Well. I did not prepare much. The first two stages went through the nervousness of getting rejected. I appeared for each of the stages and said to myself, “Well this is it, don’t get disheartened but you won’t make through”. But after the communication test was over and I got called for the coding test I felt a leap and started to pour all my heart and mind into learning python. I haven’t started much with python until then. I just knew the name of the language and pretty much that was it.
I started to look into online documentation, YouTube videos and downloaded an IDE to practice. They had sent a pdf of sample questions to make us familiar with the level of difficulty to expect. They were all standard problems. I did not take up any course rather I did not have time to take up any course. I was all alone with no idea where to begin and where to end. I started with solving simple programs to understand the syntax and the sample problems. I solved a lot of similar problems myself to gain a little confidence. Learning a new language in just 2 weeks was indeed a challenge but I took up the challenge pushed myself enough and yes, I got through it!
The coding test was for 2 hours but guess what? I finished my test in 1 hour which was a big jump for me. This made me feel wonderful, I realized I was capable of doing much more than I think I can. Well, it was just the beginning of exploring my limits!
Next was the online interview, which happened for about 15 to 20 mins. They asked a few technical questions about python and then there were few other questions too. In the end, they asked if I had any questions for them and the interview ended peacefully.
After the interview, I was super nervous but at the same time had good feelings from somewhere within. I said to myself a 100 times, “It’s okay even if you don’t get through, you learned a language from scratch in 2 weeks that too all by yourself, isn’t that amazing?”
But yeah after a few days I got a mail that I am selected for the program and what can be more wonderful than that!
How is the experience of being here ?
It is more amazing than it sounds! The best part of the program is indeed the community or rather the family I am a part of. All the 126 girls, the Google team, and the TalentSprint team. I can never be luckier than to be a part of this amazing family. They support me, motivate me and push me till I attain what I want to attain, and then push me further such that my limits become nothing but infinity! This program has truly helped me grow as a person not just technically but emotionally and rationally.
Our first boot camp was scheduled to happen in July 2020 in Hyderabad, which did not happen due to the pandemic and we had an online inauguration with the Google and TalentSprint team, and till now we have had a lot of online classes and are being taught a wide range of topics.
And what else?
It is just the beginning to explore, work hard, stay true to yourself, and soar the heights !!
At the end I will just say, “There is just one thing that can stop you from achieving what you want to achieve, and it’s you, yourself !”
