Problems are posted by the companies that actually have them, and by us. You read the brief, do the thinking, and send us what you would do. Free to enter, open to students and fresh graduates, on your own or as a team.
Most hiring processes ask you to describe your judgement. Here you use it on a problem someone is genuinely trying to solve, and the people who would make the decision read what you sent.
Briefs come from companies that have the problem.
Some problems are posted by sponsoring organisations, others we set ourselves from what we see across employers. Either way the constraints are real ones.
Judged by a mixed panel, not by a form.
Representatives from the sponsoring organisation sit alongside our team. Your work is read by people who hire, which is the point.
Strong entries reach employers either way.
We surface the submissions that impress us to employers in our network. Not winning does not mean the work goes nowhere.
Free to enter. We are not selling you anything, and there is no fee at any stage.
Several problems run at once, so you choose the one that suits you rather than waiting for the right brief to come round.
Browse what is open and choose one. Each brief states who posted it, what they need decided, and the deadline.
You get two to 4 weeks, depending on the problem. Enter on your own or put a team together, whichever suits how you work.
Send a written proposal or deck setting out what you would do and why. Everyone is read in writing first.
A shortlist is invited to present to the panel and answer questions on it. That conversation decides the outcome.
Stated plainly, because you should know what you are being measured against before you start rather than after.
Is the answer any good. Would a business actually act on it, or is it a description of the problem in different words.
Whether the thinking is supported rather than asserted. We would rather see a modest conclusion you can defend than a bold one you cannot.
Whether it survives contact with cost, people and time. Clever in theory is not the same as workable on Monday.
Clarity of the writing and the pitch. A good recommendation nobody can follow does not get implemented.
Winning entries are recognised publicly and put in front of employers in our network. Where the sponsoring organisation is hiring, winners are put forward for an interview or an internship. There is a cash prize, and time with the panel that judged you.
The exact prize is stated on each problem when it is posted, because it varies with the round and the sponsor.
If you have a genuine decision in front of you, putting it to this audience gets you a range of thinking on it and a close look at how people reason, which no interview gives you. You sit on the panel that judges it.
We will tell you if your problem is not a good fit for a challenge. Some decisions need a consultant, not a competition.
Amira can answer the basic questions about the challenge: who can enter, what is open, how to submit. Anything she cannot answer, she passes to a person.