Women Who Code Mentorship Program 3.0 — Week 3

In the third week of the WWCD Mentorship Program, we discussed scholarships and other opportunities.

Our mentor, Brihi Joshi, guided us in constructing perfect essay answers.

A significant aspect of writing a good answer is validating it with examples and testimonials. Supplementing your essay with numbers, facts, stories, images(if possible) and, project or blog links builds up a realistic environment for the reader. For example, while expressing my participation in WWCD Mentorship Program 3.0, attaching the blogs along will create a better impression on the reader.

For scholarships and opportunities addressing diversity and under-representation, a good essay should cover three aspects — technical skills and background of the applicants, concerns over diversity and under-representation and, how they use their skills to overcome some of these issues.

While writing your essay, it is apparent to mention how you can contribute to the organization. It is equally necessary to list out how the organization will contribute to your development. It indirectly expresses your interest in the opportunity and makes the reader aware of your career objectives.

Our mentor shared an efficient technique to write a proper essay answer — Use and Throw. It works like this — draft all the answers at once, review them, learn from them and build up another set of answers. Reviewing your answers frequently with peers, seniors, and even individuals unfamiliar with tech will help you know what you should and should not include in the essay.

The final reviewer might not have a technical background. It might be an HR reading your answer.

To sum up, a perfect answer develops an image in the reviewer’s mind about how your background and skills support each other in making you an asset to the organization.