Large-scale AI hackathon with over 1,500 participants

Recently, more and more companies are organizing hackathons. A hackathon is a combination of the words “hacking” and “marathon” and is a competition or event where developers, planners, designers, etc. work intensively to develop a service within a set time limit. Companies are holding hackathons to build a good development culture or to recruit developers.

In August, Elice held a large-scale hackathon called ‘AI Edu Hackathon’ to develop a generative AI-based education product. We recruited for four roles: front-end engineer, back-end engineer, AI engineer, and product manager/designer. A total of 1,561 people applied for the online qualifiers, and 50 finalists were selected to participate in the all-day, all-night hackathon. Here’s how Elice was able to assess the skills of over 1,500 candidates and get them through to the final round of the hackathon.

Elice Platform Optimized for Online Qualifiers

The first phase of the hackathon, the qualifiers, were all done online, all through Elice LXP. The online qualifiers ran for 11 days, from August 1 to August 11, and participants could take tests or submit assignments at any time within the timeframe. For the front-end/back-end engineer position, participants took a coding test in C, C++, Python, Java, Kotlin, and Javascript, and for the AI engineer position, they took an AI competency assessment test. For the product manager position, they submitted a plan for an AI project.

▲ Frontend/Backend Engineer job coding test example

The entire process of assessing competencies for each position was also done through LXP. The ability to not only take the coding test, but also to automatically grade it after submission made the whole process fast and smooth, even with a large group of 1,500 people. After the coding test was completed, our CTO, Jungkook Park, hosted a live test commentary session to review how to approach and solve the questions and ensure that candidates had a solid understanding of the test and their results. For those who couldn’t make it to the live session, we’ve since released a video of the session.

▲ Coding Test Commentary Session Screen

Immersive hackathon on- and offline experiences

The final 50 candidates from the online preliminaries were selected for the offline finals. The finals were held from August 26th to August 27th at Elsevier’s ElseLab in Seongsu. The schedule consisted of team building after the opening session, planning and developing with their assigned teams, and presenting the next day.

As it was an overnight event, special emphasis was placed on organizing the environment so that participants could develop and collaborate in an immersive way. Since Elice Lab is primarily a learning space for those taking Elice training, it was the perfect place to run the hackathon. Participants were able to collaborate and develop in a variety of spaces, including meeting rooms, programming zones, and more. We also streamlined the submission of materials, such as interim plans, by submitting them all to the platform. Instead of sharing them via email or KakaoTalk, they were integrated into one platform, making it easier for both participants and administrators to use. In addition, we worked hard to create an operational and environmental environment that allowed participants to focus on development in a comfortable and safe environment, such as providing constant meals and snacks and providing security guards during the early morning hours. As a result, all participants were able to complete their final presentations safely. Even though it was a short time, the deep immersion and collaboration resulted in a novel and finished product.

▲ Group photo of offline finalists

Expand IT company hiring opportunities with an online career center

One of the unique aspects of the Elice Hackathon was the opportunity for corporate recruitment. Participants who excelled in the online qualifiers as well as the main hackathon were given the opportunity to apply to participating companies. Participating companies included Elice, Carrot Market, Job Planet, iWeb, Lapo Labs, Catchers, and other IT companies.

The recruitment process is also facilitated by Elice LXP, which allows companies to create an online career center to promote their organization, and candidates can submit applications directly to the companies they are interested in. After submitting an application, Elice delivers the applicant’s hackathon preliminary and final scores to the company, and the company will then consider the applicant for employment after completing the necessary processes.

▲ Online recruiter screen on the hackathon homepage

As you can see, the platform, development environment, and operational know-how have helped us to organize a successful large-scale hackathon. Recently, many companies are showing a high level of interest in hackathons, and to run a hackathon well, it is essential to have a platform that helps the process run smoothly.

The Elice platform is a one-stop shop for evaluation, scoring, and management, and can handle testing with a large number of people. In addition, the platform can be customized to meet the needs of the company, such as orientation, pre-testing, and building a comprehensive environment, so you can run a hackathon flexibly according to the company’s situation. If you are currently planning an event such as an internal competition or hackathon, why not take a look at the Elice platform? If you are interested in learning more, we recommend that you contact us for a consultation with a specialized consultant.

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