@Tamil_Selvan this was so helpful. I’m a senior data scientist.
Most of the code that I worked on are not kn GitHub. I have worked on various innovative models/algorithms and pipelines but I haven’t kept them on GitHub.
How should I showcase them as evidence in that case?
Hi @Ramjad61, you can add the screenshot of the Git commit history so that your private repos can validate that you worked on the projects for so long with the timeline.
Mention that it is a private repo that you cannot share .so you are attaching the screenshot and clearly indicate the commit user belongs to yours. and validate that.
Hi @Tamil_Selvan Congratulations on getting endorsed.
I have a quick clarification to make please kindly help.
The Technation guide clearly frowns at Contract and Consultancy Roles for applications, but you mentioned using a Contract Job outside your day-to-day to fulfill the mandatory criteria.
Can you please explain better?, I think I am in the same boat, but whilst preparing my application I have turned a blind eye to all the projects I did on Contract with huge impact while having a fulltime Product Led Job.
Hi @Secure_Tobs,
Thank you for asking!!
Tech Nation only says that you should not be a full-time consultant or outsourcing /freelancing applicant. So, I had a full-time job as a machine learning engineer, but outside my day-to-day job, I signed a contract with 2 other companies to research/develop their core algorithms and proof of concepts which had a direct impact on the energy and agricultural sector of UK and Singapore.
So if you have a full-time job, then you are in a perfect place to apply. I have added these two contract jobs to showcase how much I contributed outside my day-to-day job and led their research and initiatives. Those are globally recognized organizations as well. I would say, whatever you did on your contract ob , show a maximum of 3 evidence.
There is no number like 3 or 5, the reason I am telling that these contract jobs are limited timelines and mostly we might have worked alone. So, Always keep your full-time employment as the top priority and add 2 or 3 pieces of evidence from the contract if you think that your work impacted the global issues directly.
In the end, this is my perspective of giving input from what I have learned through the guidelines and forum. So, all the best for your application mate.
@Tamil_Selvan Please, how did you name your evidence? I mean, how would the assessor know which document is for the MC and which one is for OC. I am just curious about how to name my docs. Thanks
Hi @alex_james, good question. Yes, I named it Document 1.pdf, Document 2.pdf… Document 10. pdf. Don’t worry, when you upload your documents, there will be a field that will ask you to tag the documents under MC, OC1, and OC2. So you just simply paste the doc names in the fields, so that the assessor can evaluate those documents based on the MC and OC.
Thank you for this! This was really helpful
Thank you @Tamil_Selvan. I have a few more questions, apart from 3 recommendation letters, the other evidence such as reference to back up my application can come within the organisation? I mean
one of my recommenders is working at Apple as a senior engineer (full time) and also a CTO and board member for the start up company which I am also currently working for. Is the recommendation from him sufficient for the said reference letter above or I must get another recommendation within the organisation or can come from a leading industry expert and he is not attached to the start up but worked with him in another project and know my work too.
Thank you for all the help you have been doing on this platform.
@Ramjad61 I would suggest that if your works are on private repo then screenshot the git commits by you and screenshot of your contributions from the Contribution Graph (on GitHub project you will find this at yourgithubproject_url/graphs/contributors). Separately, if the models or software are part of a product/project then also get a endorsement letter from the CTO or project lead/manager who can attest your contributions as well. You can include all these evidence in one document but would depend how you are arranging your evidences.
@alex_james Hi. It would depend on how you are arranging the evidences. For example, if you are providing evidence that you have contributed significantly on Product X then it’s better to provide screenshot of git commits and contributions made by you as part of the evidence. In the same evidence, you can also provide an endorsement letter from the Product X’s project lead or CTO who could attest for your contributions. However, this is just my view and how I would go about it. Others on the platform might be able to provide other insights on this topic.
@somdipdey thanks for your feedback. The Product X’s CTO has given me recommendation letter. Can I use the same recommendation letter to back it up or I must get another letter within the same Product X’s company coming from another person?
@alex_james So, how I would go about it is like this. If the Product X’s CTO has already given you a recommendation letter that attests your contributions towards Product X then in the evidence document provide the screenshots of your contributions (git commits, contribution history, news clippings, etc) in the evidence document and also mention within the document that this has been confirmed by the recommendation letter provided by Product X’s CTO. If this evidence document has not surpassed 3 A4 pages (around 2 A4 pages only) then you could also try to get another recommendation letter (1 A4 page) from the senior level manager of the organization of Product X to attest your contributions as well. But you provide this recommendation letter about your contributions within the evidence document along with the screenshots of your contributions.
Once again, this is only my view and others here might have a different opinion.
Thank you @somdipdey. I got everything you are trying to say. Since the CTO is using the Product X letterhead paper, can the senior member of the team who now works elsewhere as Devops engineer use the same Product X letterhead paper or he can use his current company (Product Y) letterhead to attest to my contribution?
@alex_james similar stuff, also happened with me. I used to work for a company where the CTO changed jobs and went to work for another company. He gave the recommendation letter on current company’s letterhead. BTW keep in mind that if you include this one page recommendation inside the 3 page evidence then definitely focus on asking the person to putt the LinkedIn profile, contact email and number of the person who is recommending (that’s what I did at least).
@somdipdey Where should my referees address the letter to? It’s not specified in the guide.
Is To Whom It May Concern okay or any other idea?
Hi @alex_james,
We should never use To Whom It May Concern, instead use To the Tech Nation committee/team
Alright, @Tamil_Selvan. so all the recommendation letters and references should have To the Tech Nation committee/team before the headings?
One more thing @Tamil_Selvan. Please, is it necessary to put a heading in all my documents?
for example, let’s say Document 8 is for OC. Can I put GitHub account that contains lines of code clearly showing my continuing contribution,
Documentation on product designs or architecture diagram as the heading. I want to be detailed and explain all my evidence as much as possible to the assessor.
Thank you once again for all the replies so far. Much appreciated
yes @alex_james . All the recommendation letters and references should have To the Tech Nation committee/team
it is not necessary to put a heading, but I used a heading as a relevant name to the document ( project name ).
Copied from your text: for example, let’s say Document 8 is for OC. Can I put GitHub account that contains lines of code clearly showing my continuing contribution ,
Documentation on product designs or architecture diagram as the heading
Yes, you can. It will help the assessor to understand what is inside.
One more tip, it is better to give a little summary as a first paragraph about the document, so that the assessor will understand what is all about, why you are submitting this, what was the impact, the goal…etc.