Winning Hackathons and Building a Career in Tech

Inspired by a talk at Point Blank by Naman Parlecha, Mohit Nagaraj, and Vivek Agarwal.

A polished LinkedIn profile or a viral tweet doesn’t guarantee your career in tech. However, when paired with real skills and consistent effort, they can open doors which you didn't know existed. That's what I learned from a talk at Point Blank, and it's the perspective this blog is based on.

So, whether you're just starting out or trying to move into a new role, here's what really helps.

1. Hackathons

The secret to winning a hackathon is 70% of your pitch and 30% of your idea. The best technical solution doesn't always win. If your presentation is poor, even a brilliant solution can fail.

Steal ideas like an artist. The goal is inspiration and not imitation. Understand the past problem statements and ideas of previous winners of big competitions like Smart India Hackathon or other well known events and ask yourself -

• What real problem were they solving?

• What made the judges take notice?

• Could this idea apply to a different industry or context?

2.Internships: Stop sending hundreds of applications

Mass application on platforms like LinkedIn or Internshala rarely leads to callbacks because you're one of hundreds or even thousands applying for the same role.

Recruiters and hiring managers in tech typically look for:

• Quality projects

• Any real world or internship experience.

Stop thinking of job hunting as a numbers game and start seeing it as a visibility game.

Keep an online presence through LinkedIn and twitter/X, contact people who are already working in the same industry which you target by introducing yourself, ask them for advice, link your projects, open source contributions.

What to actually post

• Share something you built (projects or open source contributions).

• Discuss something you just learned or struggled with.

• Explain a technical problem you solved in plain language.

Over time, your profile evolves from an empty resume into a working record of your journey. That's what attracts people

3. Resumes: Keep it simple, make it count

Your resume is the first thing most recruiters see and in many companies, it goes through automated screening before anyone reads it. That means a beautifully designed resume with custom fonts and columns might actually hurt your chances.

What works

• Clean, readable formatting and nothing fancy.

• No photos, complex layouts, or tables for layout purposes.

• Keywords that match the role you're applying for.

• Concrete results wherever possible numbers, outcomes, scale.

Your resume should clearly highlight:

• Technical skills.

• Projects (with context).

• Internships or relevant experience.

• Hackathon wins or notable participation.

Generally a resume should be at most two pages. The goal isn't to showcase everything you've done, it's to make whoever reads it want to talk to you

Summary

A few things consistently make a difference:

• Projects that show real ability.

• A pitch which holds some value.

• A resume that's easy to scan and hard to ignore.

Hackathons provide you with projects to discuss and a story to share. Social media gives you a platform for that story. And a resume provides you a space to put your skills.