Nidhi Kala

Goodbyes are dreadful. Especially, when they come one after the other—from your employees who joined just 6 months back.

“They are just running after a competitive salary.”

“They are just underperformers who don’t have the skills to work with us.”

“They weren’t ready to work 12+ hours.”

Excuses are lame when your employee churn rate is high. Many times, employees don’t leave for a higher paycheck or because they prioritize a healthy work-life balance. They leave because of unorganized company culture, failed growth, and hampered emotional health.

If you picture yourself in this scenario, it’s time to look back at your processes and create strategies that help you retain your existing employees.

In this article, we talk about:

• 10 employee retention strategies
• 4 employee-first businesses to take inspiration from

Employee retention strategies for job satisfaction

Ready to learn the strategies that wow your employees and help you build an ecosystem for employees where work would be fun? Keep reading.

Strategy #1—Create an interactive onboarding process

The next step after the new hire accepts the offer letter—creating a seamless onboarding process.

With an engaging onboarding process in place, employees feel included by the company.

In a general onboarding scenario, companies introduce new hires to the reporting manager, assign them tasks, and share the resources. But the right way to onboard employees requires more education and effort.

For example,

At HackerEarth, new hires are introduced to each department and the work they handle through weekly onboarding video sessions.

To make the onboarding process interactive at your company:

• Set up a meeting where you can introduce the new hire to all the different departments of the meeting.
• Give new hires access to all the relevant resources they need to accomplish their tasks. For example, get them to set up their company email ID and invite them to the company’s Slack channel where all the major communication happens.
• Provide interactive training and immerse the new hires into your work environment. To do this, assign training to team leaders of each department where they talk about how their department functions.
• Encourage the buddy system. With a buddy on the side, the new hire has someone they can rely on and reach out to every time they have concerns.

Strategy #2—Recognize your employees’ hard work

How do you support your employees when they deliver the work—appreciate them or highlight their weaknesses?

Here’s the thing: you don’t always need big paychecks to appreciate your employees.

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For example, Dribble orders short cameos from celebrities to give a shoutout to employees for great work.

A few ways to show appreciation to your employees include:

• Check in with your employees regularly. Talk to them about non-work related things. A simple “how was your weekend” and listening to what they say is a great way to start.
• Celebrate their success with the entire team and highlight the things that you like about them and their work.
• Say thank you to make the employees feel happy and confident and to encourage them.
• Give them non-cash gifts. For example, sponsor a course they have wanted to take for a long time, take them to a fancy dinner, or gift them an exotic trip.

Strategy #3—Give your employees flexibility with their schedule

Along with the different work options, employees want flexibility in their schedules. They don’t want to continuously glare at their computer screen even in a remote job.

Ask yourself:

• Do they want to work remotely?
• Do they want to work from the office?
• Do they want to work from 9-5 or from 12 to 7?
• Do they want to take a break between work and drop their kid at daycare?

Sidenote: Offer your employees a flexible work schedule.

But how?

Here are three ways to introduce a flexible work schedule in your organization:

• Pick a 3-4 hour time slot when your employees are available—for meetings, messages, or time-sensitive tasks
• Offer employees the opportunity to swap one working weekday with a Saturday or Sunday
• Introduce the 4-day workweek policy

Strategy #4—Provide learning and upskilling opportunities

Companies with the motto to constantly empower learning for themselves and their employees grow effortlessly. But the sad truth? Only 40% of companies invest in upskilling their employees, according to a 2022 PwC survey.

By working with an organization, employees aspire for their financial and professional growth.

When you offer them upskilling opportunities, you strengthen their skills.

For example, Workday supports the development of its employees by leveraging its technology platform. In 2021, the company rolled out a skill-based HR strategy that allowed the employees to find their weak areas and work towards the specific skill by connecting them with opportunities within the organization—like gigs, new roles, or extracting skills from experts.

Just like Workday, you can offer upskilling opportunities to employees. Here’s how:

• Organize weekly or monthly training within your organization and invite experts from different departments to share their expertise
• Run educational workshops and invite external experts to share their expertise
• Sponsor a learning program for the employees based on their skills
• Buy an online course, watch it with your team and learn together

Strategy #5—Stick with remote work options

When Apple transitioned from working remotely to hybrid work, many employees started quitting their jobs. Why?

The hybrid policy of the company. In his letter to the employees, CEO Tim Cook shared that employees would be working from the office on set days—Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays and can work remotely on the remaining days only if approved by their manager. He also mentioned that the employees will be permitted to work from anywhere for up to two weeks per year.

Because of this strict hybrid work policy, employees started quitting their job as they did not have a remote or location-flexible work option.

Employees love working remotely. According to Flexjobs’ employee engagement report, 48% of employers are maintaining some form of remote work for their workforce.

Bottom line? Remote work will continue to exist.

Even if your company is moving to a hybrid or in-office work model, give employees the option to work remotely.

When hiring for new roles, highlight the different work options in your job description and communication the new hires and employees can choose from.

Strategy #6—Be transparent with compensation packages

Who doesn’t love compensation? And competitive compensation packages play an important role in attracting and retaining employees. Here’s the proof: 55% of employees leave their job for higher compensation, according to Lattice’s SOPs report.

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Many times, it’s the compensation package that makes the employees feel undervalued—because they feel their efforts haven’t been rewarded with the compensation they *actually* deserve.

So make sure you study the salaries other organizations are offering for the same role, check your budget, and roll out the salaries.

Strategy #7—Empower moonlighting

Picture this: your employee works as a web developer during the day and runs a small business selling handmade soaps at night.

Would you be offended at them for making extra income or be happy for them?

Moonlighting has gained momentum in recent times—but in a negative light. Saurabh Deep Singla, HR Officer of UpGrad notes:

However, HackerEarth has a different take on this.

HR Director, Swetha Harikrishnan says,

Employees who moonlight are passionate people and bring in multiple skills making them high-value employees. When employers support their choices, they feel valued and likely to work with the organization for a longer period.

But, the big question for organizations is how to support them while making sure they focus on their primary job too.

The solution? Create permissive moonlighting policies.

Here’s how:

• Set expectations that the employee will consider their day job as the primary job and will not allow other jobs to interfere with the performance of their primary job
• Make sure the employee does not work with your competitor while they are working with you
• Make sure the employee does not reveal the techniques, strategies, and programs they learned in their company either to competitors or any other organization
• Make sure employees get approval from their employer to conduct their moonlighting work

Strategy #8—Provide job security by improving the turnover of the organization

Who enjoys being laid off? Literally, no one! Layoffs happen when the company is reducing business costs, or shutting down.

In both cases, one factor remains constant—company turnover. If a company’s turnover decreases, it impacts employees’ job security.

To make sure employees feel secure, focus on improving the organization’s turnover. For this, companies need their employees’ support. That’s why it’s crucial for companies to educate and be transparent with them.

Here’s what you need to do:

• Educate your employees on how their contribution can help in increasing the business turnover
• Implement open book management practice and share the organization’s financial information with the employees

Also read: 4 Images That Show What Developers Think of Layoffs in Tech

Strategy #9—Practice two-way feedback

Two-way feedback makes space for the employer and employee to improve and grow together. With constructive feedback, employers and employees achieve two things:

1. Employees: They know the weak areas they need to work on.
2. Employers: They know how to make their employees’ experience better at the organization.

At HackerEarth, we ask for feedback from the new hires once they have completed their 15 days of working in the organization. They receive an email from HR and a notification from the bot on Slack where they have to fill out the survey—which they can do anonymously too. These surveys are conducted every month to keep a constant check on employees.

Doing this helps the HR team understand the employee’s experience in their early days.

To make sure the feedback culture keeps moving, encourage each department to give and receive feedback internally.

Here are a few ways how the internal team can conduct feedback:

• Ask your employees the “hero” questions to help them reflect on important moments and understand what it took to reach that point
• Run employee pulse surveys and anonymous QnAs using a reliable pulse survey tool to get your employees to share their ideas and concerns
• Conduct virtual town halls where employees can ask questions, share feedback face-to-face and offer solutions.

Strategy #10—Maximize performance management programs

With a performance management program, you help the underperforming employees polish and improve their weak areas so that they can perform better at work. This is a great way to uplift these employees instead of analyzing them over a one-month period and announcing whether they are the right fit for the company or not.

To ensure yielding the best results with a performance management program, here are a few best practices:

• Set goals with the performance plan. For example, based on the employee’s role, set a goal of 3 months to help them polish their skill
• Monitor the progress of the employee regularly
• Coach them and help them identify the areas they lag on and what steps they can take to be better

4 employee-first companies to take inspiration from

Here are 4 businesses that share how they have been building an employee-first company and community for their employees.

Motivosity: Form employee resource groups (ERGs)

One of the employee retention strategies that Motivosity supports is forming employee resource groups (ERGs).

Logan Mallory, VP at Motivosity says,

Also read: What We Learnt From Target’s Diversity and Inclusion Strategy?

Hable: Be vulnerable with employees

When leaders become vulnerable with their employees and show how they feel, think and function, employees get to know them better—which strengthens their bond.

Rosie Hall, Communications Manager at Hable shares the core values of her organization—honesty, and bravery—which has led them to build a safe space for their employees.

Monterail: Supports emotional well-being

Supporting employees emotionally comes in different phases. You could check in with them by talking about non-work related things and their challenges.

According to the People’s team at Monterail, talking about employees’ challenges and things that may not be working well helps them build a safe space for their people. They further add.

Also read: 7 Ways to Reduce Burnout in Your Tech Teams

HackerEarth: Encourages diversity and inclusion

HackerEarth is an employee-first company that focuses on diversity and inclusion.

D&I is not just another number that our targets have to hit. It is baked into the DNA of our company. We believe inclusion should be placed at the heart of everything we do as a company. The culture here is inherently non-judgemental.

We fiercely champion the cause for LGBTQ+ inclusion from the front by giving our people the correct language to use, asking them to call out behaviors that are not ok, and educating and sensitizing others towards these behaviors. We have also partnered with an insurance company that provides coverage for same-sex partners. We believe in investing time, maintaining an open dialogue, educating people on ‘ally-ship’ and support – and not restricting their education to only the marginalized groups.

We also continuously modify our internal leave policies to better take care of our employees. We added 12 period leave days per year to our policy, which can be availed depending on how the employee feels. Our paternity leave policy has been extended from the usual 5 days to a month—our way of ensuring that our Hacksters and their families can experience the joys of parenthood without any hassles.

No more goodbyes…

You have all the employee retention strategies to build an employee-first ecosystem—focusing on giving back to their employees. Start small. Audit your ongoing processes and strategies and find the areas where you need to rework. Is it communication? Bonding with them? Giving work flexibility? Or, focusing on their emotional well-being? Once you find out the right answer, go back to the retention strategies you read above and start using them as a framework in your organization.

New year. New you. New recruitment trends.

And with this, you need to tweak your ongoing strategies to find the best tech talent. Some trends will continue to stay the same while others will want you to multiply your ongoing efforts with a new approach. But to ensure you do all of this the right way, you need to know the recruitment trends that are being forecasted to turn talent acquisition on its head in 2025!.

Let’s dive in.

Trend #1—Recruitment through social media

Social media has been the north star for recruiters and hiring managers. It’s not restricted to building a personal brand and influencer marketing anymore; also finding quality and targeted candidates. With more and more people joining the social squad, social recruiting will continue to be one of the primary channels for recruiters to source candidates.

Clearly: recruiting via social media is an effective recruiting strategy. Recruiters are seeing the results and this will become more effective with social channels like LinkedIn.

If you are a recruiter leveraging LinkedIn, here’s how you can amplify your efforts:

• Connect with candidates by scanning their LinkedIn profiles and understanding their interests, skills, experience level and so on
• Send them an Inmail asking if they are open to opportunities and sharing the job profile you are hiring for

💡Pro tip: To reach out to super-targeted candidates, make a list of ideal candidates. Engage with their content first or connect with them on LinkedIn and introduce yourself and your company first.

Trend #2—Automation: or ATS- Automated nurturing for resumes

An ATS or applicant tracking system remains to be a savior in the recruitment industry and takes off the load of the hefty manual hiring process. Whether you want to create stronger job descriptions or automate tedious workflows—an ATS can do it all for you; however, recruiters will rely on the ATS only to an extent. They’ll leverage automation and manual efforts to get the best results. When hiring for super-targeted and niche job profiles, recruiters will still have to do a deep dive into their target candidate personas by reaching out to select candidates and scanning their profiles.

Recruiters will need to carry out several recruiting tasks manually if they are hiring for a laser-focused senior or niche role. On the flip side, an ATS works in favor when hiring for junior-level roles.

A simple workflow for carrying out your recruitment process via ATS looks like this:

Created a job posting for a junior-level role → candidate applies for the role → an ATS emailer is sent to the candidate asking for the online assessment → candidate takes the test → invited for the interview process (if the test gets approved).

When this recruitment workflow is conducted by recruiters manually for senior roles, each task remains the same but the workload of screening every profile for different roles lessens which makes the ATS a winner.

Trend #3—Reskilling and upskilling to enhance internal mobility

After the layoffs by big tech giants like Twitter and Meta, it is obvious employees can be laid off at any time, at any stage of employment. However, before laying off the employees, companies follow a layoff plan and a multi-step approach on who to select for the layoff. They look at tenure, certifications, performance reviews, and promotability. Based on these factors, they create a scale and measure the employees on this scale, and then lay them off.

External hires are 61% more likely to be laid off or fired in their first year of service and 21% more likely to leave.

And the common point for these layoffs is performance. If the employees are not learning and upskilling, there will always be a lag in their performance. That’s why you need to regulate programs for your employees to help them upskill and reskill themselves to stay ahead of such situations.

And how, you may ask, do you encourage them to upskill? Offer stipends for certifications or conduct in-house training—from educational programs to personal development programs—all of them help in the growth of the employee.

The key is to keep the employees in the learning loop—which will help you to fill open job roles internally and prepare them for any adverse situations ahead.

Also read: How HackerEarth Made it Through 2 Recessions Without Relying on Layoffs?

Trend #4—Employee well-being and engagement

Employee well-being and engagement have been the highlight for better workplace functioning ever since the pandemic. Candidates are now selective about the companies they want to work with. They even create a checklist of the kind of companies they want to work with. Here’s how a candidate’s basic filter checklist looks like:

• Do I believe in their company’s purpose?
• Will I work with people who inspire me?
• Am I going to learn something I don’t already know?

Candidates are as laser-focused on their choice of companies as are the recruiters on finding the right tech talent. They have switched from *just* focusing on paychecks to companies that:

• Offer career growth, and learning
• Respect their after-work boundaries
• Offer them the flexibility to choose their work options
• Value their emotional and mental health

Here’s the thing: offering employees an annual comp off to give themselves a break from the mental exhaustion of burnout won’t help. It needs to be ingrained in the company’s culture on how to create an employee-first ecosystem.

Trend #5—Employer branding

Employer branding will continue to stay to be a crucial factor in attracting candidates and filling up the roles at your organization with quality candidates. With a solid employer brand, you will be able to showcase your company values and aspirations and drive candidates who don’t want to stay with you for the annual package but for what you are building. However, building such an employer brand needs effort and you need to stay authentic.

To demonstrate your company values to the candidates and attract the best talent, do this:

• Get your employees to talk about the company on social media. For example, ask them to share about a fun activity the company did recently and how it impacted them
• Get ample PR coverage for the initiatives you have contributed to
• Showcase interviews with the leadership team—helps the candidates pick the brains of leaders by watching their videos

Also watch: Creating an Employer Brand That Sticks

Trend #6—Workforce diversification

Work diversification doesn’t just mean what, where, and how people work but also the type of work. Simply put, organizations don’t just rely just on a geographically distributed team but a distributed team with different employment types—full-time employees and freelancers.

With workforce diversification, companies are successful in doing two things: bringing employees from different backgrounds and having employees with specialized skills together.

A good way to amplify workforce diversification is by having a mix of full-time and independent employees, ideally, by following Pareto’s principle of 70:30.

Trend #7—Predictive analysis

Companies will use predictive analysis to audit the skills of existing employees, shortlist them for difficult-to-fill roles, provide them with learning opportunities based on their skills and help them build personalized career pathways for their employees.

Some questions that predictive analysis provides insights to you on include:

• What are your most effective candidate sourcing channels (job boards, social media, referrals, and so on).
• How long does the screening process take and which screening techniques are effective?
• How long does it take to go from the application to the offer letter phase?
• What positions are likely to be needed or become vacant in the future and what will the hiring manager’s needs be?
• How likely is it for a new hire to perform well?
• How long will a new hire stay with the company?
• At what stage do the roadblocks regularly occur, what is their impact and how to fix them?
• Which roles and skills are needed urgently to meet the company’s needs?

Trend #8—AI in Talent Acquisition

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is playing an increasingly significant role in modern Talent Acquisition strategies. This section explores the impact of AI on recruitment processes and its growing importance in staying competitive in the job market.

Leveraging AI for candidate sourcing

AI-powered tools can efficiently scan through a vast pool of resumes and job applications, swiftly identifying top talent. These tools analyze not only skills and qualifications but also consider factors like cultural fit, improving the accuracy of candidate sourcing.

Enhancing candidate assessment

AI enables objective and consistent candidate assessments. Through natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning algorithms, it evaluates resumes and even conducts initial interviews. This not only saves time but also helps reduce unconscious biases, ensuring fair evaluation.

AI in predictive hiring

AI-driven predictive analytics models can forecast a candidate’s potential success and tenure within an organization. This empowers recruiters to make informed decisions and optimize long-term hiring strategies.

Ethical considerations and transparency

While AI offers numerous advantages, it also raises ethical concerns. Transparency in AI decision-making processes and addressing algorithmic biases are crucial aspects of responsible AI adoption in Talent Acquisition.

Incorporating AI in Talent Acquisition is no longer an option but a necessity for businesses aiming to attract and retain the best talent efficiently and objectively.

Grab the spotlight in 2025 with these recruitment trends

So now you have been through all the 7 recruitment trends that you need to leverage in 2025. Some of these are the trends you have already been implementing while some will require you to analyze and reanalyze your ongoing strategy, see what the other organizations are doing, and take inspiration.

What are you waiting for? Ship your efforts the right way!

Virtual hackathons are online events where people come together to explore challenges, and design and build solutions. Unlike physical hackathons, in a virtual hackathon the finale can be hosted from anywhere and do not have the same geographical boundaries—all you need is a live-streaming platform like Zoom to get started.

Furthermore, these hackathon finales last for a few hours or a few days. When we asked Vineet Khandelwal, Director of Customer Success at HackerEarth about the ideal duration of a hackathon, he said that the registration for a hackathon usually takes 4-8 weeks depending on the size of the community that the hackathon is targeting.

This timeframe is used to create a buzz about the hackathon in our community and enables the registered candidates to come up with a unique idea related to the theme of the hackathon. The time in which the participants can work on their ideas and submit a working prototype is usually another 4 weeks which ultimately end with a virtual finale.

If this sounds daunting, let’s break it down together as we take you through the intensive process of organizing virtual hackathons.

Why should you host a virtual hackathon?

A virtual hackathon comes with several perks that a physical hackathon would not have. Let’s talk about these benefits in detail.

Cost-effective

With a virtual hackathon, you can reduce overheads you otherwise have to bear in a physical hackathon—the elimination of paying rent for physical venues, food, event settings, and more. Moreover, this makes it easier for candidates as well, as they can attend the hackathon from the comfort of their homes.

Eco-friendly

Most companies are becoming environment conscious, and virtual hackathons are helpful in that way.

With virtual hackathons, the carbon emissions the online event produces are much lesser than a physical event as participants don’t have to travel.

The research article published in International Journal of Environmental Studies talks about a case study based on a virtual conference held by Airminers in 2020, which produces 66 times less greenhouse emissions than in-person gathering in San Francisco would have done.

Clearly: Virtual hackathons are a boon for the environment too.

Diversity

With physical hackathons, you can only invite local developers — from the same city, state, or nearby places. But virtual hackathons open doors to different geographical locations, helping the company get diverse participants with a large skillset.

Developers like to be associated with projects where they can use their skills for real-world problems. For example, if you want to introduce a specific technology in a geographical location you’ve never explored, participants from that region can give ideas and develop the technology that works well for people in that region.

How to host a successful virtual hackathon?

At HackerEarth, we have perfected a 4-step process for organizing and conducting a hackathon which we recommend to our clients. This process begins with ideating the theme for a hackathon and includes tips on promoting and gaining more participants as well. Let’s begin.

Step 1: Decide your goals

Ask yourself this—what do you want to accomplish with this virtual hackathon?

• Do you want to engage with participants and create awareness about your company?
• Do you want to develop a product prototype via crowdsourced ideas?
• Or, do you want to attract talent and hire them?

Once you have the answers, you can proceed further.

Let’s look at LGBTQIA+ matters, a recent virtual hackathon organized with the clear aim to foster cross-cultural dialogue, promote awareness and understanding of LGBTQIA+ issues and developing innovative solutions to address the challenges faced by LGBTQIA+ community.

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Step 2: Pick a theme

Themes should be decided according to the trends in industry, the company’s own target audience and product lines, and whether they want to build employer branding by using CSR initiatives.

So, pick the theme for the virtual hackathon keeping these components in mind.

For example, the Perkins School of Blind used our end-to-end managed hackathon platform to host the Perkins Hacks in 2018. Participating developers had to build a wearable device for older people with lower vision to navigate spaces.

In this hackathon, the theme was visual impairment, and the challenge was building such a device that was never developed before.

But you don’t have to always stick to one theme. You can have multiple themes for a single hackathon.

💡Pro tip: HackerEarth’s Hackathons allows you to add multiple themes for the participants to pick from.

Step 3: Choose the timelines

Dates: Virtual hackathons are long-term events with multiple stakeholders. This is why, it is important to divide the duration into specific phases and timelines so that everything can move smoothly.

For example, virtual hackathon organized by Intel, the event timelines were broken down into individual phases: date of registration, dates when submission phase 1 and phase 2 start, and so on.

Step 4: Get the word out

Once you have planned all the elements like collaborating with judges, deciding on the prizes, setting up communication, etc., it’s time to promote the event.

A simple way to do it is to promote the virtual hackathon on social media. For example, companies use HackerEarth’s Hackathons to conduct their virtual hackathons where we promote their online hackathons on social media platforms like Twitter and drive registrations.

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Here are some ways to spread the word about virtual hackathons:

• Get your employees to share about the virtual hackathon on social media channels like Twitter and LinkedIn.
• Create a short video with your company’s leadership team and share it on the official social channels.
• Tell the participants the benefits of participating in the virtual hackathon—prizes, subject matter experts, and more.
• Conduct polls and ask questions to keep developers engaged and curious about the upcoming virtual hackathon. This is where digital business cards can be handy as they can be used everywhere. You have the option of including custom links such as polls, hackathon registration pages etc. Along with contact detail you can use top digital card software. So go ahead and on your platform where you are promoting hackathon.

What do you need to host a virtual hackathon?

Wondering what exactly you need to host a virtual hackathon? Here’s a list you must follow:

Software

Here are a few tools you must use to host a virtual hackathon:

Video and text platform

Since the hackathon finale is hosted virtually, it’s imperative to choose a good video conferencing platform to conduct the event.

✅Google Meet and Zoom: Meet the participants virtually

Digital collaboration

Participants will need a place to manage all projects and timelines, and brainstorm ideas with their team members.

✅HackerEarth’s Hackathons: Registration of participants and organizations, managing the project and team formation.

✅Slack and Discord: Use asynchronous messaging platforms for more interactive group activities.

✅Screen Recorder : Use a free screen recorder to communicate effectively with other remote participants when organizing the event

Centralized resource hub

Don’t give participants the chance to come to you during the live hackathon to ask about event-related information like rules, schedules, FAQs, contact information, and promotional material.

Instead, create a centralized resource workspace using Google Docs, Dropbox, or Notion and give access to each participant and share that on the hackathon page under the Resource Center tab Leverage a text summarizer to highlight key points related to your hackathon that can serve as a guiding document and add it to your resource hub. Here are a few suggestions from our end.

✅Google Docs and Dropbox: Save important documents and resources for participants and organizers to access

✅Notion: Create collaborative documents

Presentation during the finale

While Zoom and Google Meet’s screen-sharing options are good options to showcase presentations, and conduct a simple finale, to make it look more lucrative you can dip your toes in the latest technological advancements like VR using tools like Hubilio to make it more interesting..

Judges

Just like a physical hackathon, virtual hackathons too need to have a judging panel to assess the finished project and award prizes.

🧠Best practice: Invite subject matter experts related to the theme.

Also, having a judging panel can help you with the promotion. Here’s how: During the promotion, talk about the specific judges who’ll be judging the event and share their credentials.

This will drive curiosity and more interest from participants. Plus, ask the judges to promote the event on their social media channels and in their network to get more registrations.

Prizes

While running a virtual hackathon, there’s no limit on the kind of prizes you can offer to the winners. Some of them include cash prizes, cryptocurrency, and digital and physical products.

For example, the organizers of HCL Volt MX Hackathon 2023 handed out multiple prizes after the hackathon ended which included the main prize category (the three winners get cash prizes worth $7000, 4000, and 3000) and special prizes with creative titles like ‘Most Innovative Submission’ and ‘Most Beautiful Design’.

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Hackathon landing page or Wiki

You need a landing page to drive more registrations to your virtual hackathon. This is where participants can better get all the information they need about the virtual hackathon.

Companies without an official hackathon landing page can use HackerEarth’s hackathons platform to set up a landing page and share all the information related to the event.

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Engagement channels

Picture this: Your virtual hackathon is live. Participants are willing. Judges are curious to see the final project.

But there comes a blocker: the participants have a concern related to a specific component but alas, there’s no way for them to communicate about it.

That’s why, along with providing a platform that enables communication within teams, you also need to set up a company workspace, especially for online hackathons where one cannot just turn around and ask for help. This way participants can raise their concerns and get them addressed in real time.

A Slack or Discord workspace works great as developers are already familiar with such platforms and it has the necessary file sharing and other capabilities needed for such conversations. Providing virtual phone number for participants to reach out with queries can complement your existing communication plan.

What are good ideas for a virtual hackathon?

If you’re planning to host a virtual hackathon but are clueless about where to start, here are a few ideas you might find helpful.

Web3

Coindesk hosted a crypto, blockchain, and Web3-oriented hackathon called Consensus 2023 where they wanted to bring the Web2 developers into Web3 and support native Web3 builders. This virtual hackathon was focused on teams and projects open to seeking out the right protocols to build on it.

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Healthcare hackathon

The Hacking Health Tech hackathon, hosted by Johnson and Johnson Medtech was aimed at building medical technology to enable efficiency in surgical procedures and developing wearable technology.

Some ideas you can use:

• Data management in clinics and hospitals
• GPS monitoring of ambulances
• Wearable devices

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Consumer-tech hackathon (Microsoft)

The Microsoft Virtual Hackathon 2022 hosted by Microsoft Azure was aimed at solving real-world business problems using Azure AI.

Some ideas you can use:

• Automated workspaces
• IoT for homes
• Autonomous drones

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General hackathon ideas

While there are several niche hackathons that we talked about above, you don’t have to always box your virtual hackathons. Instead, here are a few generic hackathon ideas you can use too:

• Impact Analysis hosted a virtual hackathon where they wanted frontend developers to build and design AI/ML-enabled enterprise SaaS software for retail companies
• DAO Global Hackathon 2023 was a 4-week virtual hackathon to get hackers to leverage existing tools and build governance and coordination tools
• AI Genesis hackathon is organized where developers will explore the power of artificial intelligence with themes in domains like gaming, social media, visual art, and music.

3 expert tips from top engineers that can make your virtual hackathons A+

Tip #1: Have clear communication

One tip I’d like to share with you is to prioritize clear and concise communication throughout the event. Effective communication plays a crucial role in ensuring participants understand the guidelines, challenges, and judging criteria.

As a judge at various events, including the design event at Michigan Tech University, I’ve witnessed how transparent communication fosters a positive and engaging atmosphere.

To achieve this, leverage multiple channels to disseminate information, such as a dedicated hackathon website or landing page. This page can serve as a central hub for participants, providing them with detailed instructions, schedules, and access to necessary resources. Additionally, consider hosting pre-event webinars or virtual orientation sessions to address any questions or concerns participants may have.

— Piyush Tripathi, Lead Engineer, Square

Also, read: Effective Workplace Communication Tips for Remote Teams

Tip #2: Make the navigation easier

Make sure the event is well-organized and easy to navigate. This means providing clear instructions and resources for participants, as well as having a dedicated team of staff members who are available to answer questions and provide support. It is also important to create a positive and engaging atmosphere for participants so that they feel comfortable and motivated to participate.

— Gaurav Nagani, Founder of Desku.io

Tip #3: Include social interaction time

In comparison to physical hackathons, the social aspects of virtual hackathons present the biggest challenge. Building relationships and cooperating with others requires extra effort because people are no longer working in the same rooms together.

— Maria Harutyunyan, Founder of Loopex Digital

Also. read: How to Run the Perfect Virtual Hackathon — Do’s and Don’ts

How HackerEarth helps in maximizing virtual hackathons

We have put down the ins and outs of how you can host a virtual hackathon in your organization. We know the process of developing a virtual hackathon from scratch is time-consuming.

When time is money, and when your internal team doesn’t have the bandwidth to plan the event in detail, you can use HackerEarth’s end-to-end managed hackathons for organizing an event that will resonate with the developer community. From setting up the theme for your virtual hackathon to providing the landing page to promoting your virtual hackathon—HackerEarth does everything.

Curious to know more? Book a demo.

Frequently asked questions

What is a virtual hackathon?

A virtual hackathon is an event where individuals or teams connect virtually to collaborate and solve problems through technology.

During a virtual hackathon, participants usually work on projects related to software development, coding, web design, or other areas of technology. They form teams, brainstorm ideas, and work intensively over a set period of time, typically ranging from a few hours to a few days or even weeks.

Participants collaborate remotely using various communication tools, such as video conferencing, chat platforms, and project management software. They leverage their skills, creativity, and expertise to develop innovative solutions, build prototypes, or create functioning applications or software.

Organizers of virtual hackathons provide participants with the necessary resources, guidelines, and access to relevant tools or technologies. They may also organize workshops, mentorship sessions, and expert talks to support participants in their projects. At the end of the event, participants typically present their work to a panel of judges who evaluate the projects based on criteria such as innovation, functionality, and presentation.

What are the advantages of virtual hackathons?

Virtual hackathons offer several advantages over traditional in-person hackathons. Here are some key benefits:

• Diversity: It allows participants from all over the world to participate in the event—increasing the diversity of participants and encouraging a wider range of perspectives and ideas.
• Cost-effective: Participants can save on travel expenses, accommodation, and other costs associated with attending in-person hackathons. Plus, organizations can bear lower expenses when compared to physical hackathons.
• Accessibility: Participants have immediate access to online resources, documentation, tutorials, and open-source libraries, which enables rapid learning and implementation of new technologies, frameworks, or tools during the event.
• Networking: It gives them a chance to connect with participants, mentors, industry experts, and potential employers from around the world—expanding their professional network, exploring job prospects, and seeking mentorship or guidance.

How can one ensure a smooth virtual hackathon experience?

To ensure a smooth virtual hackathon experience, consider the following tips:

• Clear communication: Establish clear channels of communication for participants, mentors, and organizers. For example, Zoom for video conferencing, Slack for messaging, and Notion for project management.
• Robust technical platform: Ensure that the live streaming platform can handle the expected number of participants and their activities.
• Detailed guidelines: Provide participants with detailed guidelines about the hackathon’s rules, project submission requirements, judging criteria, and timelines.
• Realistic timelines: Give participants sufficient time to prepare before the hackathon starts. Share relevant resources, pre-event materials, and any specific challenges or problem statements in advance so participants can familiarize themselves with the topic.
• Mentors and support: Arrange subject matter experts to support participants during the hackathon. Offer mentorship sessions, Q&A opportunities, and technical assistance to help teams overcome obstacles and enhance their projects.
• Regular check-ins: Schedule regular check-ins with participants to monitor progress, address concerns, and provide guidance. Use video conferencing or chat platforms to hold virtual stand-up meetings or progress updates.
• Engaging workshops and talks: Organize virtual workshops or talks on relevant topics to enhance participants’ skills and knowledge—technical skills, design thinking, project management, or industry insights, providing valuable learning opportunities.
• Transparent judging process: Clearly communicate the judging criteria and process to participants in advance.

Which platform is best for a hackathon?

HackerEarth’s hackathons platform helps companies conduct virtual hackathons from scratch. They provide a process management team, creative and design support, organic event promotion, and evaluation of product ideas.

What are the types of hackathons?

• Internal hackathons: These hackathons are conducted internally within the organization. Here, employees collaborate to solve internal challenges, develop new products or features, or foster innovation in the company.
• External hackathons: These hackathons are conducted externally where participants outside of the organization share their skill sets and bring in innovative solutions such as a product prototype.
• In-person hackathons: These are physical hackathons where participants come together in one place to work on projects. These events usually last for a few hours or a few days. In such hackathons, participants are restricted as only location-specific folks can only participate.
• Virtual hackathons: These are virtual events where participants from any geographical location can participate. These hackathons are hosted on a live-streaming platform which makes it easier for talent from different geographical locations to come and participate.