The Major League Hacking Coaches Program

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 in the middle of the night, 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

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 you just love the hacker community, you should become an MLH Coach. You will travel to hackathons throughout North America and Europe. You will gain invaluable experience as a mentor and organizer. Lastly Coaches will be paid for every event they attend; we’ll handle travel expenses and of course every coach will get some really cool, exclusive MLH Coach swag.

You must be 18 or over for this position.

Why should I become a coach?

As a coach, you'll learn invaluable skills from the team who have 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.

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 (PPP) depending on what country you're based in. We use OECD data.

What experience are you looking for?

You should be passionate about building communities and have an ineffable love for packing boxes. Technical background helps, but isn’t requisite. Strong public speaking and communication skills are required.

If your ideal weekend is spent supporting hackers at a hackathon, you’ll make a great coach.

What does the application process look like?

The application process starts by applying via the form below. We’ll send you a writing assignment to asses 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 screens. During these phone screens potential coaches will be asked present technical explanations of previous projects and share experiences and stories of their time thus far as a member of the hacker community.

What does the work load look like for a coach?

Coaches are expected to work up to two events per month. Outside of events, Coaches will spend time talking to student organizers prior to attending events. During events, Coaches remain in proximity of hackathons for 36 to 48 hours not including travel to/from the event. All MLH staff are also expected to sleep during events and MLH will provide accommodation to ensure that Coaches are rested.

What if I have additional questions?

Feel free to email us at [email protected].

Apply to Be A Coach

Want to travel to hackathons, help organizers, learn from Major League Hacking, and get paid? Apply here, we'll be in touch.

Apply to be a Coach