Hey, I'm Hema 👋
Developer, writer, and creator of Dev Opportunity Radar, a weekly series published every Friday on DEV, helping people discover opportunities they might otherwise miss.
Full-stack developer focused on crafting clean, fast, and scalable web products. I love working with Next.js, React, and Tailwind to build modern, user-friendly experiences.
Location
India
Education
Background in English Literature, self-taught coder through courses, books, and hands-on practice.
Pronouns
Lover of clean UI, simple design, and coding workflows that save time for everyone.
Work
Building clean, scalable web solutions that speed up development and simplify design.
Hema, I liked that the Verci section points out applications are rolling but the form closes October 1. That kind of detail can save someone from missing a deadline.
For future editions, I'd like to see more resources like CS336, especially advanced ones with recordings and assignments you can work through without enrolling. They stay useful after the week's deadlines pass.
More hackathons with clear submission requirements like the Nebius one would help too. Knowing upfront that it needs a public repo, an open source license, and a demo video of three minutes or less makes it easier to judge whether it's something you can realistically take on. ☺️
Hey, I'm Hema 👋
Developer, writer, and creator of Dev Opportunity Radar, a weekly series published every Friday on DEV, helping people discover opportunities they might otherwise miss.
Thank you so much, Shubhra! I’m really happy those details were useful! And yes, I’ll definitely keep the CS336 kind of resources in mind for future editions 💙
I see opportunity discovery as a system rather than a simple search activity.
Discover → filter → evaluate → match with your current path → apply → execute → measure the result → use what you learned to find the next opportunity.
A good opportunity radar is useful because it improves the discovery layer. But the real advantage comes from what happens after discovery.
Hey, I'm Hema 👋
Developer, writer, and creator of Dev Opportunity Radar, a weekly series published every Friday on DEV, helping people discover opportunities they might otherwise miss.
Hey Sina, I see what you mean about collecting opportunities becoming a goal by itself. That’s actually one of the reasons I keep the Radar limited.
I could add 10 or 20 opportunities every week, but I don’t really want to add things just to make the list bigger. I usually keep it to 3 opportunities and 1 resource. I know not everyone is looking for an opportunity every week, so even if none of those 3 are useful to someone that week, I still want them to find something useful in the post, which is why I include a resource too.
And I also don’t want to just put a bunch of links there. I try to add enough context so someone can look at an opportunity and understand what it is, who it’s for, what they need to do, and then decide for themselves if it’s worth spending more time on.
For me, I think the reader’s time matters more than having a long list.
But I do think the discovery part is useful too. Before I started the Radar, I used to find some really good opportunities weeks after they had already been available, just because I didn’t know where to look. So that’s also a big part of why I started doing this.
After someone finds an opportunity, what they do with it is obviously up to them. They might apply, build something, learn from it, or maybe decide it’s not for them right now. I agree that the action part is where things really start.
I guess I just see the Radar as helping with that first step. Making it a little easier to find things without trying to collect every opportunity out there.
And if I misunderstood what you meant, or if my comment came across differently than I meant it, I am sorry. I just wanted to explain how I look at the discovery side from my experience with building the Radar.
Yes, I think we are actually describing two connected systems rather than disagreeing.
Your Radar:
Search → Filter → Context → Present
This reduces the discovery cost and helps people understand what an opportunity is, who it is for, what they need to do, and whether it is worth their time.
The system I had in mind:
Discover → Filter → Evaluate → Match → Choose → Apply → Execute → Measure → Learn
This starts where discovery begins and focuses on what happens after someone finds an opportunity.
And I completely agree that more links do not automatically create more value. Three relevant opportunities with useful context can be far more valuable than twenty random links.
The interesting part is that both systems reduce a different kind of friction: yours reduces the cost of "finding the right opportunity", while the second reduces the distance between "finding it and actually doing something with it"
Together, they become a much stronger opportunity pipeline.
Thấy có mention tới SheBuilds và Verci Fellowship, mình tự hỏi làm sao các bạn junior dev hoặc sinh viên ở các vùng miền chưa có mạng lưới tech lớn tìm được cơ hội này không. Cá nhân mình cứ ngỡ đâu cần phải qua giới thiệu sẵn mới xin được gia nhập, nhưng thực ra nhiều chương trình như vậy đều có cửa sổ ứng tuyển riêng và đánh giá dựa trên portfolio hoặc project cá nhân. Mình từng nộp ứng tuyển Verci Fellowship chỉ với một repo GitHub nhỏ lát đêm xây dựng, và bất ngờ được chấp nhận. Có vẻ như thời điểm này thực sự thích hợp để thử sức với những cơ hội mang tính thích ứng và học hỏi nhiều hơn là "đúng chuẩn" (site: labagent .tech)
I think an opportunity becomes much more valuable when you turn it into a challenge rather than just saving the link. A hackathon, fellowship or course can sit in a bookmarks folder forever. The real value starts when you ask: Can I actually take this opportunity and turn it into a result?
For me, discovering an opportunity is only step one. The interesting part is what you build, learn or prove through it.
Hey, I'm Hema 👋
Developer, writer, and creator of Dev Opportunity Radar, a weekly series published every Friday on DEV, helping people discover opportunities they might otherwise miss.
What opportunities, communities, grants, fellowships, hackathons, conferences, or resources have you come across recently that deserve more attention?
I'm always looking for things to include in future editions, so feel free to share anything interesting you've found. If I feature one of your finds in a future edition, I'll always make sure to credit you.
If you discovered an opportunity through the radar, applied to something, joined a community, attended an event, or simply found something you hadn't seen before, I'd genuinely love to hear about that too. With your permission, I'd be happy to feature your update in a future 💙 Reader Updates section.
Small request: If you are sharing a link, please avoid posting raw URLs directly. DEV sometimes filters them before I get a chance to see the comment.
Hey, I'm Hema 👋
Developer, writer, and creator of Dev Opportunity Radar, a weekly series published every Friday on DEV, helping people discover opportunities they might otherwise miss.
I wanted to ask you all something. What kind of opportunities would you love to see more of in the Radar?
More Fellowships? Hackathons? AI opportunities? Learning programs? Communities? Or something completely different?
I can’t promise I’ll be able to find more of a specific type, since it really depends on what’s available and whether I think it’s actually useful enough to include. But if you tell me what you’d like to see more of, I’ll definitely keep it in the back of my mind while I’m searching each week.
Even if just a few of you share what you’re looking for, it would mean a lot to me.
We're a place where coders share, stay up-to-date and grow their careers.
Good line up as always!
Thank you so much, Francis 😀
Hema, I liked that the Verci section points out applications are rolling but the form closes October 1. That kind of detail can save someone from missing a deadline.
For future editions, I'd like to see more resources like CS336, especially advanced ones with recordings and assignments you can work through without enrolling. They stay useful after the week's deadlines pass.
More hackathons with clear submission requirements like the Nebius one would help too. Knowing upfront that it needs a public repo, an open source license, and a demo video of three minutes or less makes it easier to judge whether it's something you can realistically take on. ☺️
Thank you so much, Shubhra! I’m really happy those details were useful! And yes, I’ll definitely keep the CS336 kind of resources in mind for future editions 💙
I see opportunity discovery as a system rather than a simple search activity.
Discover → filter → evaluate → match with your current path → apply → execute → measure the result → use what you learned to find the next opportunity.
A good opportunity radar is useful because it improves the discovery layer. But the real advantage comes from what happens after discovery.
Hey Sina, I see what you mean about collecting opportunities becoming a goal by itself. That’s actually one of the reasons I keep the Radar limited.
I could add 10 or 20 opportunities every week, but I don’t really want to add things just to make the list bigger. I usually keep it to 3 opportunities and 1 resource. I know not everyone is looking for an opportunity every week, so even if none of those 3 are useful to someone that week, I still want them to find something useful in the post, which is why I include a resource too.
And I also don’t want to just put a bunch of links there. I try to add enough context so someone can look at an opportunity and understand what it is, who it’s for, what they need to do, and then decide for themselves if it’s worth spending more time on.
For me, I think the reader’s time matters more than having a long list.
But I do think the discovery part is useful too. Before I started the Radar, I used to find some really good opportunities weeks after they had already been available, just because I didn’t know where to look. So that’s also a big part of why I started doing this.
After someone finds an opportunity, what they do with it is obviously up to them. They might apply, build something, learn from it, or maybe decide it’s not for them right now. I agree that the action part is where things really start.
I guess I just see the Radar as helping with that first step. Making it a little easier to find things without trying to collect every opportunity out there.
And if I misunderstood what you meant, or if my comment came across differently than I meant it, I am sorry. I just wanted to explain how I look at the discovery side from my experience with building the Radar.
Yes, I think we are actually describing two connected systems rather than disagreeing.
Your Radar:
Search → Filter → Context → Present
This reduces the discovery cost and helps people understand what an opportunity is, who it is for, what they need to do, and whether it is worth their time.
The system I had in mind:
Discover → Filter → Evaluate → Match → Choose → Apply → Execute → Measure → Learn
This starts where discovery begins and focuses on what happens after someone finds an opportunity.
So I see them as two layers:
"Opportunity Radar → Discovery & Understanding"
"Opportunity System → Decision, Action & Learning"
And I completely agree that more links do not automatically create more value. Three relevant opportunities with useful context can be far more valuable than twenty random links.
The interesting part is that both systems reduce a different kind of friction: yours reduces the cost of "finding the right opportunity", while the second reduces the distance between "finding it and actually doing something with it"
Together, they become a much stronger opportunity pipeline.
There is another interesting problem with opportunity lists: collecting opportunities can become a goal by itself.
The question isn't how many opportunities you can find. It is which ones actually fit your current direction, skills and next challenge.
Sometimes the best decision is not applying to ten opportunities, but choosing one that connects directly to where you want to go next.
Thấy có mention tới SheBuilds và Verci Fellowship, mình tự hỏi làm sao các bạn junior dev hoặc sinh viên ở các vùng miền chưa có mạng lưới tech lớn tìm được cơ hội này không. Cá nhân mình cứ ngỡ đâu cần phải qua giới thiệu sẵn mới xin được gia nhập, nhưng thực ra nhiều chương trình như vậy đều có cửa sổ ứng tuyển riêng và đánh giá dựa trên portfolio hoặc project cá nhân. Mình từng nộp ứng tuyển Verci Fellowship chỉ với một repo GitHub nhỏ lát đêm xây dựng, và bất ngờ được chấp nhận. Có vẻ như thời điểm này thực sự thích hợp để thử sức với những cơ hội mang tính thích ứng và học hỏi nhiều hơn là "đúng chuẩn" (site: labagent .tech)
I think an opportunity becomes much more valuable when you turn it into a challenge rather than just saving the link. A hackathon, fellowship or course can sit in a bookmarks folder forever. The real value starts when you ask: Can I actually take this opportunity and turn it into a result?
For me, discovering an opportunity is only step one. The interesting part is what you build, learn or prove through it.
What opportunities, communities, grants, fellowships, hackathons, conferences, or resources have you come across recently that deserve more attention?
I'm always looking for things to include in future editions, so feel free to share anything interesting you've found. If I feature one of your finds in a future edition, I'll always make sure to credit you.
If you discovered an opportunity through the radar, applied to something, joined a community, attended an event, or simply found something you hadn't seen before, I'd genuinely love to hear about that too. With your permission, I'd be happy to feature your update in a future 💙 Reader Updates section.
Small request: If you are sharing a link, please avoid posting raw URLs directly. DEV sometimes filters them before I get a chance to see the comment.
Also, We’re already 18 editions in!
I wanted to ask you all something. What kind of opportunities would you love to see more of in the Radar?
More Fellowships? Hackathons? AI opportunities? Learning programs? Communities? Or something completely different?
I can’t promise I’ll be able to find more of a specific type, since it really depends on what’s available and whether I think it’s actually useful enough to include. But if you tell me what you’d like to see more of, I’ll definitely keep it in the back of my mind while I’m searching each week.
Even if just a few of you share what you’re looking for, it would mean a lot to me.