Overview

To become a member of WARG, a subteam lead must confirm your completion of a bootcamp. Our https://uwarg-docs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/AD/pages/2318500191 page details all the requirements to be a member of WARG. Please do not claim to be a member of WARG if you do not satisfy this definition.

Questions / Feedback

For any general questions and feedback regarding bootcamper onboarding please use #⁠⁠bootcamp-general. If the information is subteam specific please use the specific subteam bootcamp channels within our Discord server.

What is a Bootcamp?

We ask our new team members to complete an introductory task, called a bootcamp, when first joining the team. These bootcamps are designed to teach you about the basic technical skills required to contribute to the team. Tasks should take approximately 3 to 4 hours to complete.

We encourage new members to ask questions throughout their bootcamp as it will give you an insight into our mentorship culture on WARG – We're happy to help you through it!

Who is eligible to join?

You must either be a current University of Waterloo student or have accepted (signed) an offer to the University of Waterloo. This is a requirement for our team as we are primarily funded by the university for educational purposes. Exchange students from another university to the University of Waterloo are eligible to join the team.

Team advisors are not subject to these requirements as they are not considered active members of the team.

Join Instructions

The steps below walk you through the bootcamper onboarding process:

1. Join our Discord server using the link on our website join page.

2. Complete our student verification by typing: /verify or $verify in the #verification channel.

   1. For more information, including manual verification, please see https://uwarg-docs.atlassian.net/l/cp/fvFg74UH. Being verified will let you see the rest of the server channels.

   2. The commands will not work if you attempt to run them in any channel outside of #verification

   3. Please note if you do not see the #verification channel you are likely already verified. Please check your discord roles to confirm this, the role is “Verified” or “Verified Manual”.

   4. If you are having difficulties preventing verification for technical reasons please ping @director in the #verification channel for assistance.

3. Change your Discord server nickname to [Firstname Lastname].

   1. Preferably uppercase the first letter and lower case the rest of your name.

4. Decide which subteam you’d like to join (aka do the bootcamp for)!

   1. If you’re unsure, see the subteam descriptions on our website team page.

5. Assign yourself Discord roles in ⁠#role-signup

   1. The order in which you add roles is important as some roles have pre-requisites.

   2. The “New Bootcamper” role should be added automatically

      1. If you were not automatically given this role ping a subteam lead or director in #verification and they can give you the role manually.

      2. If your name shows up light green in Discord it indicates you have correctly been assigned the the “New Bootcamper” role. This is also verifiable through roles in your server profile.

   3. Add the subteam role(s) for which you want to start on the bootcamp.

   4. Add the subteam bootcamper role(s) for which you want to start on the bootcamp.

6. Introduce yourself to the team by sending a message in #⁠introductions!

   1. There's a pinned message in the channel you can follow as a template.

7. Send a message in the subteam bootcamp channel to inform subteam leads that you are starting their bootcamp.

8. Head over to the Bootcamp Space to get started on a subteam bootcamp!

9. Check out the quick resource links in #information and consider attending subteam meetings!

   1. The meeting schedule is available on our team calendar and in the Events section (top left) of the Discord server. You are welcome to attend subteam meetings and/or work sessions even before you’ve completed your bootcamp.

10. After completing your bootcamp, follow the https://uwarg-docs.atlassian.net/l/cp/N8Kd6UPC instructions.

11. Subteam leads will provide further direction specific to their subteam. Please direct any further questions their way!

Subteam Membership

Now that you’ve completed a bootcamp, you are a member of that subteam. This is defined in further detail in our https://uwarg-docs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/AD/pages/2318401926 document.

You are of course allowed to complete multiple bootcamps if you want to (they are good fun!) and there’s nothing stopping you from doing multiple bootcamps simultaneously if you want to. To become a member of a different subteam you must repeat the onboarding process for that subteam and complete their bootcamp.

Bootcamp Exemptions

In rare instances, subteam leads may grant permission for a bootcamper to skip completion their bootcamp. If you feel that you have completed a project requiring higher skill level than the bootcamp and would like to be exempt from the bootcamp, you can contact a subteam lead. They will require you explain in detail the project you have completed.

It is up to the subteam lead’s discretion whether you qualify to be exempt from their bootcamp. If the subteam lead feels that you should still complete the bootcamp, it is likely because they think you can learn and gain skills from its completion. They may also ask you to complete a portion of the bootcamp instead of the entire bootcamp.

Why Bootcamps are Important

Bootcamps are intended to be a valuable and fun exercise for students of all skill levels! It can make a great addition to a portfolio and may be a project to speak about in future interviews. The bootcamp is designed for you to get used to the subteam’s work processes and tools. For these reasons, it is recommended that students complete the bootcamp.

The exemption policy exists to ensure that experienced individuals in a field are given a lower barrier to entry into the team as they have already proven themselves more than capable. For example, an individual with significant experience in a field they obtained from a non-WARG design team, a co-op position, or a complex personnal project can easily join the team.

Further Readings

• Bootcamp Introduction: https://uwarg-docs.atlassian.net/l/cp/XXyg3PdY

• Discord New User Flow: New User Join Experience

• WARG Team Charter: Team Charter

• Why we use Public Channels: Private Communications