Coach (Event Representative)

Major League Hacking Coaches are community members who represent Major League Hacking at events. Coaches are the people you want at every hackathon. They are passionate hackers and community members who love to teach and support peers of all skill levels. MLH Coaches are at your events mentoring hackers and supporting organizers. They can be found debugging your code, ensuring judging goes smoothly, or even taking out the trash (both literally and figuratively). Coaches are hackathon superheroes, without the capes, masks and lassos of truth.

The Major League Hacking Coaches Program empowers these community superstars to support you at your next hackathon.

Becoming a Coach

Why should I become a Coach?

As a Coach, you'll learn invaluable skills from a team who has been to more hackathons than anyone else in the world. You'll build your interpersonal skills, the ability to work under pressure, and deep leadership skills. You'll establish yourself as a leader in the community and set a foundation for your future.

Through the Coaches Program, you'll set yourself up to put on better events, lead teams, become an evangelist or even a founder.

Can I be a Coach?

If hackathons are in your blood, if you love to mentor students, if your dream job is to become a developer evangelist, or if you just love the hacker community, you can become an MLH Coach.

You must be 18 or over for this position.

Is this a paid position?

Yes. We want to provide an opportunity for any student hacker to fully focus on giving back to the hackathon community without having to worry about how they can afford to do so. We view spending your weekend at a hackathon as a Coach as an alternative to a campus job or becoming a T.A. 

Coaches are paid different rates depending on what you're doing for MLH and the hacker community. We pay all Coaches in USD. Our rates are adjusted by purchasing power parity depending on what country you're based in. We use OECD data.

Can I be a Coach if I’m an international student?

MLH Coaches work as independent contractors in the United States. Typically, to be eligible, international students must have authorization that specifically allows them to work as an independent contractor.

If you are unsure whether your status qualifies, please consult your school’s international student office or a qualified immigration professional before applying.

What does the workload look like for a Coach?

Coaches are expected to work up to two hackathons per month. You will travel to hackathons throughout North America or Europe.

At hackathons, Coaches will work with organizers, hackers, and sponsors to ensure the event runs smoothly. Coaches will stay at a nearby hotel and travel back and forth to the event over the course of the weekend. All MLH staff are expected to sleep during events, and MLH provides accommodations nearby (that you’ll travel back and forth to over the course of the weekend) to ensure you’re well rested!

Outside of hackathons, we love when our Coaches actively contribute to the community, and we have a number of initiatives to help Coaches do that. You’ll be able to do things like write technical content for our blog and lead MLH Localhost workshops on the latest technologies. We’re always looking for new and exciting ways to leverage the amazing people who make up our Coaching team.

What experience are you looking for?

You should be passionate about building communities. We’re looking for candidates that have organized hackathons, tech meetups, or workshops. A technical background helps, but isn’t a requisite. Strong public speaking and communication skills are required.

If your ideal weekend is spent supporting hackers, you’ll make a great Coach!

What does the application process look like?

The application process starts by applying via the form here. We’ll send you a writing assignment to assess your ability to communicate and learn about your experience as a hacker. Upon review MLH will reach out to Coaching candidates to schedule the first of three phone conversations. During these phone conversations, you will be asked to share experiences and stories of your time thus far as a member of the hacker community.

Requirements

• You should be passionate about building communities. We’re looking for candidates that have organized hackathons, tech meetups, or workshops. 

• A technical background helps, but isn’t a requisite

• Strong public speaking and communication skills