application hell

welcome to introspection ft. harsehaj! ⭐️ i’m harsehaj, an 18 y/o always up to something in social good x tech.

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btw, feel free to reply with topic ideas you want me to write about for future posts.

onto today’s topic: application hell 🔥 

i coined the term application hell this morning when i was trying to put the concept into words. you might have heard of tutorial hell, where you watch a million tutorials for learning programming instead of actually writing code.

application hell is similar. it’s just filling out applications for internships, fellowships and external opportunities endlessly without change.

i’m victim to this. sometimes my browser is just stacked with dozens of application tabs waiting to be filled out. it’s so time consuming, but i convince myself that i’m being productive by submitting the same profile over and over again.

this is application hell. 🔪 

yes, sometimes applications for internships and jobs are a numbers game, but there’s a lot more value in hitting the root cause of why those submissions aren’t bearing any results.

do i need to build up my personal projects more?
do i need to know more people in the industry?
would i even go for this opportunity if i was accepted?

i find myself applying to things that i’m not even very interested in, just for the sake of applying and feeling some sort of gratification from it.

i’ve found recently that it isn’t a good use of time, energy or brain cells to keep submitting applications without iterating on possible mistakes. instead, i make more meaningful progress by actually connecting with cool people in the space i’m applying to, building projects and even better, crafting opportunities for myself. 🧑‍🍳 

it sounds daunting, but what’s stopping you from putting together an event for ai nerds? or reaching out for advice on a certain project rather than for referrals?

i’m tempted into application hell all the time — especially right now when all of the internship positions are opening up for 2024, but it’s important to be intentional and get yourself out of the unchanging cycle! (:

how many tabs do you have open right now?

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