Hi there! it's been a minute. I've been so occupied with surviving in the jungle that is HNGi8. Having closed that chapter, I'm here to give you the scoop on my experience with HNG (aka Zuri Internship); the good, the bad... and Dorime.

Overview

First of all, you're reading this because I have been eliminated (Squid Game reference, apt eh?). If you're wondering what I'm going on about, then you should read my previous post. Getting into the program isn't such a hassle, as it is open to literally everyone and their grandmas (I love that it gives newbies a chance. Thank you, Mark). The problem is staying in. The program consists of 10 stages, and the hurdles get more complex at each stage. Rumour has it that designers have it even tougher than the developers, as Mark takes a special interest in their affairs (haq, haq). This edition also featured an entrepreneurship track and a digital marketing track, which I didn't get to join, sadly.

How it Started

The first couple of tasks were simple; publish an article and present your github, figma and linkedIn accounts to get to stage 2. Easy-peasy. Stage 3 would be about networking, they said. We all did our best to make friends in preparation for the "networking" task, but I don't think anybody was ready for the "hunger games" that ensured. Stage 3 turned out to be for team-building. Founding members were chosen randomly and the rest of us had to pitch to our desired teams and hope to be bid for (I had 2 teams willing to bid for me but I went to team Darwin, where some of my "new friends" were. Shoutout to EJ David. I would later question this decision, but I digress🤣). Those who remained teamless after a certain period of time were "eliminated", while the rest of us were promoted (it's a hard knock life).

Dorime

Fast-forward to a few weeks later. I'm in a team with the coolest devs ever, barely sleeping (but maintaining beauty, of course) and chasing solutions all over the internet. To get out of stage 6, I'm coordinating a small group of newbies like myself and we are implementing a particular workflow, which will be judged based on 4 milestones. We're really making progress and overall, Team Darwin's plugin is looking good. Things are looking up and I'm thinking I might actually make it out of the hood.

Enter Dorime.

Think "naughty corner"- yeah, that was Dorime for us. It was a channel for defaulters, the "coconut heads" and naturally, a place to catch cruise (shoutout to Naza, cruise queen and the real MVP). Some people who got into Dorime never made it out of there. It was like a backdoor out of the program. I landed in Dorime on 2 different occasions. How? - Dear reader, may busybody not get you into trouble oh. I found myself in Dorime one fateful day, because I had filled a form I had no business filling. I eventually made it out of there, after presenting my approved workflow as evidence of my seriousness. Our first milestone got approved too. Yay.

The 2nd time I got into Dorime, it was harder to get out. How did I get there? I promise you, it wasn't my fault. Mark had decided to dissolve some teams and focus on a few key plugins because there wasn't much time left for the program. Unfortunately, Team Darwin was dissolved (remember that other team I left for team Darwin? yeah, it wasn't dissolved 😄). Everything went downhill from there. We were thrown into the wild yet again, to find new teams. Well, I got into a new team and everything was different. I couldn't keep up and I felt like an outsider. At this point, the system had changed (it's spontaneous like that). No more milestones; everybody was thrown into Dorime and we had to submit diffs (evidence of individual work done) for evaluation to make it out of there and into stage 7.

I made it out of Dorime, but I was assigned a new task for stage 8 which was seemingly easy but super confusing and ultimately became almost impossible to achieve.

Update: Finalist

If you read this when I first posted it, you probably know that I left HNG at stage 7. Well, almost. Just after I published, guess who was given a second chance and made it all the way to the final stage? (drumroll 🥁) -Me! I did it, I am now an HNG finalist and I was right, the shirt does look good on me (Cover image- front row, second person from the right).

FAQ

• Is HNG internship difficult?

  For a newbie? somewhat. Note that it is fast-paced and very spontaneous, and it is very easy to miss deadlines and important information if you have other engagements like school or a 9-5. However, you get a lot of chances to prove yourself, so there is hope for you as long as you put in the work. It is not for the faint of heart though, I repeat, Not for the faint of heart. Newbie or pro, you have to be resilient.

• Is it worth it?

  It depends on what you're after. It's not a paid internship, but I went in there to network and gain experience and I wasn't disappointed at all. You also get to be recommended for jobs if you reach a certain stage, amongst other things.

I hope you enjoyed reading this article, I tried my best to keep it short. Now that I'm a HNG finalist 😏, will I update my title from "aspiring dev" to "junior dev"? find out in my next article.

If you're reading this and you are (or were) a HNG intern, I'd love to read about your experience. Did you ever get into Dorime? Will you return as a mentor in the next edition? Let me know in the comments section. Not an intern? I'd love to read your comments regardless.

Thank you for your time!