KakushIN’21 hackathon was all about hands-on learning experience for me. It was an amazing journey from the day we got the problem statement till the last day of the hackathon. Understanding the problem statement, preparing executive summary, presenting possible solution in front of experienced technologist at Nomura and implementing the solution in virtual environment was an experience filled with lots of excitement and learning opportunities. The technology team also provided a great virtual infrastructure. KakushIN hackathon was challenging but it was rewarding as well. I’m grateful for all the learning opportunities and support that I got from everyone during the KakushIN hackathon.

The thing that I liked most about KakushIN was the opportunity that I got to interact with lots of experienced people at Nomura. It was a well-organized hackathon. Thank you for this wonderful hackathon. It was impressive and left me with a very good memory.

What started as a design curiosity took us to land an offer with KakushIN? I am still amazed by this great opportunity. It was such an exciting experience. There is no better way than a challenge like this where you get to showcase your teamwork capabilities, product mindset and the desire to develop yourself.

The thing that I liked the most about KakushIN was that active learning is valued. The fast-paced and high-energy event showed that technical skills along with passion and communication is very important. It allowed me to push to develop myself and helped me gain important set of qualities like growth attitude and a mindset to achieve my mission.

My KakushIN journey was amazing and I got to learn a lot. From idea conceptualization to bringing it to reality, it taught me how tools/products are built for practical implementations. Everything ran well and was nicely digitized, taking place in a comfortable and welcoming environment. Also, the fact that we got dedicated mentorship from company professionals shows the commitment of the company to this competition. I would recommend every student to participate in KakushIN.

The best part of KakushIN was mentorship. Every shortlisted participant was mapped with an active Nomura professional who helped us bring our concept to reality. I am thankful to Nomura for creating this opportunity for us to interact with experienced developers. Their perspective and inputs have considerably helped me refine my thought process and problem solving approach. Their guidance also helped me perform better in my internship. I am glad to be a part of Nomura where this type of culture persists.

The experience was amazing. I have participated in multiple hackathons and coding challenges but KakushIN was totally on a different level. From the day one, when KakushIN was announced in my campus, everyone was excited to participate in it, my partner and I also thought to give it a shot. The problem statement which was provided was easy to understand and we started preparing for the pre hackathon rounds. In initial screening round we prepared our draft based on given problem statement. I still remember how my partner and I were struggling to create the best proposal draft by having late night discussions and meetups. It was not just a draft, it was an introduction of our team and our solution. After it got selected, the next round was the PPT presentation. The major challenge here was to showcase the capabilities of our solution in just 10 minutes of pitch. This is where our soft skills were also being tested. On the main day of hackathon where 12-hour time constraint was there, we had to plan about what needed to be done in this short period of time. Accordingly, we planned our solution and started coding for it. In those 12 hours’ time period, we were tested by many panels in terms of technical and soft skills, and we were able to complete most of our proposed solution in the stipulated time provided. This hackathon not only tested our technical capabilities but also the necessary skills like planning, communication, team work etc. which is usually not present in other hackathons.

The volunteers and panels!!! HR, volunteers and the tech team were very supportive, friendly, and were there to help us on technical issues. While working on our solution I met amazing panels who suggested what can be added and what can be done to make it in a better way. They also provided insights of latest technologies which are presently being used in corporate. Their honest feedback helped us to improve our solution.

When it comes to recruiting on campuses, KakushIN offers a distinctive experience. Your ability to analyse, present, communicate and code will be put to the test. One of the most thrilling hackathons I've ever attended was KakushIN' 21. Although this time it was virtual, the team's attempt to deliver a seamless experience was successful. It was difficult to build everything from scratch on a virtual machine, but the KakushIN technical team was really helpful and made sure we had a hassle-free environment for work.

From the moment I was given the problem statement to the moment where I presented my solution and finally developed it into the actual product, I learned a lot over the course of working on KakushIN. This was followed by a more in-depth and technical presentation in front of a distinguished panel. The number of evaluating rounds aided in raising participant competency. It was a great Grand Finale.

The competition lived true to its name, which means ‘to innovate’. We had 10 hours to completely write one piece of software while receiving constant feedback. While clarifying our coding decisions as we went forward was really helpful, it also caused us some stress. In order to accommodate modifications based on various restrictions and input, we eliminated some of the components we had originally planned to add. In other words, the entire process involved making adjustments as we went along and still completing all of the functional requirements at the end.

The Final Round presented certain difficulties that we conquered with a combination of pure dread and excitement. For these 10 hours, it was important to balance teamwork, communication, speed and efficiency. You should be able to adapt and improvise, and that is something I've learned to be, which was really crucial throughout this entire journey. Being proactive is crucial, even when things don't go as planned.

The layout of KakushIN is what I appreciate most about it. There were no restrictions, all thoughts and viewpoints were welcomed. The technical team at Nomura was really supportive and helpful. We were provided the contact information of expert Nomura IT specialists so that we could get in touch with them and have our problems fixed quickly. Overall, the competition was very professionally managed and organized, making it a wonderful experience. We were constantly inspired and urged to persevere by all of the members who were present which truly made us strive to give it our all. We had a great opportunity to display both our technical and soft skills through KakushIN’ 21 by the Nomura team. I appreciate Nomura and the KakushIN organizing team for enabling such a platform and for providing such a wonderful experience.

KakushIN’20 was one of the most exciting hackathons I have ever participated in. Though it was virtual this time, the team’s efforts to provide a seamless experience was a success. Building everything from scratch on a virtual machine was not that easy, but the KakushIN technical team was very supportive and they ensured that we are provided a hassle free environment for development. I learned throughout the journey of KakushIN- from the time I was given the problem statement to presenting my solution and finally developing it into the actual product. Multiple judging rounds helped in increasing competence among the participants.

What I liked about KakushIN the most was the freedom to choose any tech stack of our choice, provided that we have an explanation behind our choices. Also, we were given contacts of experienced IT professionals of Nomura so that we can connect with them and get our doubts cleared in no time. The attractive prizes and the opportunity of getting internships added to the motivation of participants.

Kudos to Nomura for making KakushIN a great success.

My experience with KakushIN 2020 was quite captivating. In the beginning, I got intimidated by the fact that this was going to be a long run with many rounds, but later, it turned out to be the best experience that happened to me during my job search journey. It helped me to learn a lot as I had no practical coding experience in the past at that time.

The thing I liked the most about KakushIN was the problem statement given to us as it was a real-life problem that most of the people around the nation were facing at that time. As KakushIN means ‘innovation’ and I believe that the biggest innovation in technology we needed at that time was a proper digitally managed system for the education of students and this made me take more interest to solve this problem.

KakushIN 4.0 was one of the best and different hackathons I have experienced. It took place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our seniors had mentioned about the highly commendable hospitality provided by the HR and Technical Team, but in our case we were participating virtually. It started with the summary on the provided problem statement, then a detailed technical presentation followed by the actual coding hackathon, where we had to implement our solution to the problem statement. Thanks to Nomura and KakushIN team for enabling such platform even virtually!

The most exciting part of the KakushIN journey was the implementation of solution. It was a roller-coaster. In those 10 hours, we had to build everything from scratch. We had to improvise and adapt different ways to reach the complete solution, yet we managed to complete it within the time limit. A unique, exciting and challenging experience as our team ended up as the Second Runner up of KakushIN 4.0.

KakushIN for me was the most unique hackathon that I have ever experienced. I’ve had my fair share of experiences in participating in hackathons but none of them were as challenging and fascinating as KakushIN was. This hackathon didn’t start in much the same way that typical hackathons do. Because of the disruptions from the global pandemic, instead of being in an office, teeming with excitement and nerve for the 12-hour challenge ahead, I was in my room and on my desk at 9am. Although the entire event was virtual, the ecosystem was so perfectly set up that the entire experience was very seamless without any hindrance or limitations. The HR and the tech team accompanying us were very supportive and friendly, and were available round the clock to help us with the smallest of things. This hackathon truly tested not only our technical skills but also various other important skills like communication, teamwork and time management. The suggestions made by the panelists were so insightful that it made the event an even better learning experience and helped in bringing the best out of our product. Thanks to Nomura and the entire KakushIN team for organizing this wonderful event.

An unusual yet intriguing thing about KakushIN which impressed me the most was the circumstances under which we were made to work. Coding everything from scratch on virtual machines provided by Nomura, being deprived of online resources including cloud services and forums, working only on the tech-stack provided by us beforehand are some of the things that made the contest very challenging. These things about KakushIN made this experience one of a kind and unforgettable.

Participating in KakushIN helped me develop a professional attitude and understand importance of team work. The experience also added value as an asset to our resumes.

Not only did the entire experience lead us to build the full-stack project, but it also enabled us to learn and imbibe various associated skills like team bonding, management, solving the real-time issues and leadership. Each one of us contributed pretty well and the final result was indeed blissful.

Everyone was very supportive and inspite of remote environment we didn’t face any major problem. We got to explore new technologies.

KakushIN was one of the best Hackathon that I have ever participated and won in my entire hackathon journey so far. My teammate Darshan Patil & I were the winner of KakushIN’19 and that feeling transcends any other emotion. All the efforts & preparations finally paid off. It was the most memorable moments of our life. We had built an artificial intelligence powered parking solution that helps vehicle drivers to have a hassle free parking experience.

As the word KakushIN means Innovation, the hackathon helped our Team to bring the creative side in solving the given problem. Both of us enjoyed this unique event with extensive brainstorming sessions and rapid development. KakushIN helped us to plan our execution in a much better way & allowed us to build something impactful in that given short period. The hackathon was well planned & kept the consideration of all requirements of the participants.

It was really a wonderful experience for both of us wherein we made new friends and did a lot of networking with goal & focus oriented people. It was a very professional event with various IT development constraints that ultimately lead us to focus & sharpen our coding skills.

Right from the Hack-Day, event organizer took great care of us in terms of food, transportation, software setup, cheerful environment for coding and much more. All this would have not been that fun & amazing without the super supportive event organizing team

We liked the problem statement, as it is one of the pressing problems of almost all Indian cities. We really enjoyed the way KakushIn was executed with so many fun events & delicious food. Time Management, Interaction with industry experts, channel to bring out the innovation is something we really liked about KakushIN.

Being my first competitive programming experience KakushIN was a very enlightening experience. Rather than being overly technical, it was a well-rounded, balanced competition, which other than technical also focused on your presentation, communication, analytical and team working skills. The organizing team held did an impeccable job in making all the participants comfortable with their hospitality. In addition, the technical team did a great job of ensuring smooth functioning of the whole event. The event teaches you to adapt as per changing circumstances and goals The end of event meet up with the higher ups of Nomura were also revelatory and provided great insight about the values and culture of Nomura. The amount of thought and effort put by the organization was really mind blowing. Kudos to Nomura and everyone who put the event together.

KakushIN did a great job of providing a platform to showcase our skills in a professional environment and explore our creativity and out of the box thinking. It also gave a first-hand experience of working in a world-class organization.

KakushIN, for me, was an event to cherish for the rest of my life. From the day, we received the problem statement we started working on it, we submitted our solution idea for the evaluation after that we went through a presentation round in college, which was head by senior professionals of Nomura. After getting shortlisted from the college, we had to compete with the top 10 teams across Mumbai in two-day coding contest where we had to transform our idea to the actual product.

However, what makes this event so special is the way it was organized and the learning experience it gave us.

We had a software installation day prior to the competition that helped us a lot to know the environment we would be working in and the complete software setup was done so that there were no hassles during the event. The systems provided were powerful which enabled us to execute the heavy tasks in no time. Building everything from scratch with limited access to the internet was an exciting and challenging task altogether. These two days tested our time management ability, speed, efficiency, planning, and more importantly the team coordination. Experienced IT professionals were there for any technical help during the event. The HR and the KakushIN organizing team were supportive and they ensured that it was a well-organized and professionally managed event.

Pick and drop cab service was provided so that we just focus on actual implementation rather than think of traveling burden.

In Addition, the tea party at the end that let you interact with senior professionals in a friendly environment was extremely helpful. Group photos session and amazing goodies are worth mentioning which connect you back to those two beautiful days of your life.

Finally yet importantly, I want to thank Nomura for providing me such an opportunity to highlight my talent, and I am sure in the future, this competition will reach the new heights.

How was your KakushIN experience?

KakushIN is something of a unique experience when it comes to campus recruitments. A complete competitive experience that makes you use all the things you picked up. Your analytical, presentational, communication and coding skills will be put to the test.

It started with a problem statement that we could approach in any way we wanted, and then submit a solution that we could can realize within the given timeframe. We were given leeway in picking tech-stacks provided we could give ample reason behind our choices and then we had to submit a single page document with a complete analysis and timeline of the solution we had envisioned. Our presentation had a comprehensive breakdown of the problem statement w.r.t whatever we thought the shareholders needed.

The Grand Finale was amazing, from the long cab rides, the food, to the excellent facilities offered. We had the whole day to code a single piece of software and getting constant feedback, explaining your coding choices as you code was both a great help, and did a lot make us nervous. We dropped some of the components we had planned to add to make room for changes based on various constraints and feedback by the mentors. In short, the whole experience was making changes on the go and still implementing all the functional requirements by the end. There were some challenges during the final presentation, which we overcame with a mix of sheer panic and excitement.

After the hackathon, we were all treated to some more amazing food and then had the chance to interact with some key people in the Nomura infrastructure. As a whole, a very educational and fun experience that will stay with me for my life. My thanks to the team which put it together and gave me a chance to make some great friends and learn some new things.

The whole event was very professional. If the opportunities and prizes had not encouraged us enough, visiting the offices where you might work, if you win was a good jolt of encouragement.

What I liked most about KakushIN is the structure and the freedom I had to research and bring all I could to the table, getting enough time before each round to prioritize and give it my all was a huge help. The amount of thought and effort that went into making the whole event comfortable for the competitors was extraordinary. The whole environment around us was friendly and we could voice our doubts and concerns to the team with ease. The goodies at the end were a fun little addition.

Thanks to Nomura and the KakushIN Team for creating a wonderful experience.