Hola amigos! Welcome back to my adventurous Outreachy journey :) Can you believe it? I've officially completed a whole month of my internship, and let me tell you, it's been a whirlwind of code pull requests, interacting with everyone, and a few coffee spills (oops!). So, let's dive right in :)
As of late, I have received multiple queries regarding how to apply, and the do's and the don'ts of Outreachy or just in general getting started into Open Source. So let's take these questions one by one
Start Contributing:
We all know about the multiple Git videos on Youtube, but they don't tell us how to go about contributing! How exactly should the contribution phase start??
Log in to your GitHub account and search for the language you want to contribute in, such as "javascript", in the Navbar Search box.
In the left sidebar, click on "Issues."
Select the "Open" state to see a list of available issues to work on.
Now your screen has multiple issues lined up, that you can start working on :) You can have a more advanced search as you go along.
Open Source Internships
There are several major open-source internships like GSoC, Outreachy, LFX, and MLH Fellowship. Each program has its own requirements, such as initial applications, proposals, or past project experience.
Here we will be talking about Outreachy:
Outreachy as you know has 2 rounds:
R1: Initial Application
DO's
- Apply early.
- Create multiple drafts, and proofread your essays to improve them.
DON'Ts
- Don't use ChatGPT or any other AI tool to write for you
- Don't exceed the Word limit, consider the character limit of the portal.
P.S. - Before applying, make sure you have started contributing to open source.
R2: Contribution Phase
The Outreachy portal would list several organizations participating in that particular cohort. Choose organizations that align with your interests, considering the community, project, and tech stack.
Join mailing lists, discord channels, Slack or Whatsapp groups, or contact the mentors via their emails to start contributing. Go to the repositories, visit the "Issues" section or just go through the project and create a feature request or bug-fixing issue if you come across one.
The contribution phase typically lasts for a month. Be polite, enjoy the process, and make friends while improving your skills :)
Note: For an Organization namely "Org1", there can be multiple projects aka "P1" and "P2". In the end you can submit proposals for only 2 projects aka "Org1-P2" and "Org2-P5", these projects can be of the same organization as well. Pick wisely.
Bonus tip: Have your proposal reviewed by project mentors before submitting it.
I hope you found this blog useful. Catch you in the next one :) Until then, happy coding <3
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