Feb 13, 2018
Top competitions every student needs to know about in 2018
[This is the second in series of blogs to help students gain knowledge of opportunities that they might miss out on.
Over the last month, I have compiled a list of conferences & internships that students can participate in :
Internships: International internships in 2018 that will make you more employable
Conferences: The must-attend student conferences in 2018]
This new blog post provides details of competitions that students can participate in to improve their skills and earn resume points at the same time. Solving the problem statement is not only intellectually gratifying, but also hones your analytical skills, patience, interpersonal prowess and much more. Competitions are a fail-safe environment to test your skills against others and explore your interests.
From having participated in some of these competitions myself and having talked to fellow friends who have first hand experience of participating in 100+ such competitions, here is the consolidated list of competitions that will look great on your CV:
Ideas 4 Action
Sectors: Finance + Social Impact
Deadline: Proposal submission by Feb 28, 2018
Team size: 2–6 students
Open for: Anyone aged 18–35 years
Awards: (a) Winners get to present their idea at an event during annual meetings of IMF and World Bank (b) Receive support from a project incubator at the Wharton School
What participants love about it: Jointly organised by the World Bank and the Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research at the Wharton School, Ideas 4 Action requires students to design ideas for financing and implementing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. This is one of the foremost competitions in the social impact sector, with opportunity to present at the biggest platforms : IMF and World Bank.
Citi-HKUST International Case Competition
Sectors: Consulting + Finance
Finals date: Oct 21–27, 2017 (2018’s dates yet to be announced)
Venue for final event: Hong Kong
Team size: 4 students
Open for: Undergraduate students
What participants love about it: The case study, designed by HKUST Business School, is modeled like a consulting case study. Students are given background of an organisation facing a set of pressing business issues. Students need to address those issues using annual reports, financial data, market research studies etc and make a final presentation to company’s senior management — the judges. Over the 7 days, teams have to battle it out in 3 different rounds to reach the finals.
Kellogg-Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge
Sectors: Finance + Social impact
Deadline: Prospectus submission by Feb 20, 2018
Finals date: April 13, 2018
Venue for final event: Morgan Stanley, London
Finalists: Top 10 teams
Team size: Max. 4 students
Open for: Graduate students
Awards: (a) $10,000 prize for winners. (b) Invitation to present with Dave Chen, CEO of Equilibrium Capital at Milken Global Conference, Los Angeles (c) All expense paid 2-day trip to London for the finalists
What participants love about it: Supported by some of the biggest names in financial world — MS, Kellogg Institute, Rockefeller Foundation among others — KMSSIC harnesses students’ creativity to use financial and investment tools to tackle societal and environmental challenges. The competition guarantees traction and buy-in from some of the biggest stakeholders in the industry, and has significantly changed the lives of winners in the past — who have ended up creating a venture out of their ideas.
The competition has also been endorsed by Hillary Clinton in the past.
Hult Prize Award
Sectors: Social Impact + Entrepreneurship
Deadline: December 23, 2017 (Deadline for 2018 Hult Prize has already passed)
Finals date: September, 2018
Venue for final event: United Nations — New York
Finalists: Top 6 teams
Team size: 3–4 students
Open for: Any student
Awards: (a) Seed money of $1 million (b) All expense paid trip to New York for the finalists
What participants love about it: Even though the deadline to participate in 2018’s competition is over, Hult Prize finds a mention in this list as it has become one of the biggest student competition in recent times. Top 50 selected teams go through a rigorous curriculum at Hult Prize Accelerator, Hult Castle, London. Each year’s competition has a different theme, with 2018’s theme being “Harnessing the power of energy to transform the lives of 10 million people”.
Bill Clinton has called this competition “One of the top 5 ideas changing the World”
L’Oreal Brandstorm 2018
Sectors: Technology + Business + Fashion
Deadline: Pitch submission by March 01, 2018
Finals date: May 17, 2018
Venue for final event: Paris, France
Finalists: Top 10 teams
Team size: 3 students
Open for: Any student (team members should be from same country)
Awards: (a) €10,000 prize each for winners under 3 categories. (b) Chance to win internship with L’Oreal
What participants love about it: Unique missions! 2018’s mission — “Invent the Professional Salon Experience of the Future”. Sexy, isn’t it?
Inventing the customer experience for the professional salon which L’Oreal can use across the globe, that’s putting some dent in the universe! The competition gives participants the ultimate freedom to do anything with their projects and first hand experience of starting a business from scratch. Students get to connect with contemporaries from more than 60 countries.
Chance to work with actual models in the city of Paris is … eh… :)
Thought For Food (TFF)
Sectors: Social impact + Entrepreneurship
Deadline: Pitch submission by May 04, 2018
Finals date: July 23–27, 2018
Venue for final event: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Finalists: Top 10 teams
Team size: 3–5 students
Open for: Anyone aged 18–35
Awards: (a) $10,000 prize for winners (b) Chance to win Kirchner Food Fellow & Take It To The Farmer Awards worth $7,500 (c) All expense paid trip to Rio de Janeiro for the finalists
What participants love about it: Developing breakthrough solution to address the global challenge of feeding 9+ Bn people by 2050! This is another big scale competition which has become quite popular among students globally. Over the 5 days at Rio de Janeiro, students will get to attend 4-days TFF Academy and 1 day TFF Summit which is attended by industry leaders, investors, policy makers etc. Finalists directly get to work with world-class mentors, who might end up investing in their ideas.
KPMG International Case Competition
Sectors: Consulting
Deadline: Entry submission in September [Date for 2017 competition, 2018’s dates will be around Sept. as well]
Finals date: April 9–12, 2018 [For 2017 competition]
Venue for final event: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia [For 2017 competition]
Finalists: Top 9 teams
Team size: 4 students
Open for: Undergraduate students (Final & Pre-final year students) & Graduate students
Awards: (a) Each member of the winning team gets prizes worth $1000 (b) All expense paid trip to Kuala Lumpur for the finalists (c) Opportunity to work full time with KPMG (d) National winners get INR 1 Lac
What participants love about it: Students face a series of complex business challenges to solve, just like any management consultant would. Participants get to make their final presentations to KMPG partners. Each country runs its own unique national competition, with teams needing to win their national competition to qualify for the finals. Teams have to qualify 4 rounds, before they qualify to represent India (or their respective countries) in the International finals.
Valeo Innovation Challenge 2018
Sectors: Technology + Automobile
Deadline: Entry submission by March 30, 2018
Finals date: October 11, 2018
Venue for final event: Paris, France
Finalists: Top 9 teams
Team size: 2–5 students
Open for: Graduate students
Awards: (a) €2,000 shared among 3 teams
What participants love about it: Students have to develop an innovative project in one of the following categories : Autonomous Vehicle, Digital Mobility or Vehicle Electrification. The project has to be presented through mp4 video pitch and slides, from which 9 teams are selected for the project accelerator and finals in Paris. Students are encouraged to form cross-country teams; anyone can post on Valeo’s website asking for a team mate.
Disclaimer: The next competition, Franz. happened in 2017. There’s no confirmation yet from organizers whether it will happen in 2018.
Sports enthusiast, do keep your eyes open for this!
Franz.
Sectors: Sports + Business
Deadline: Application submission by Nov 20, 2016 [For 2017 competition]
Finals date: May 26, 2017 [For 2017 competition]
Venue for final event: Berlin, Germany
Finalists: Top 3 teams
Team size: 3-4 students
Open for: Any student
What participants love about it: How will you like to be judged by Franz Beckenbauer, one of the greatest footballer of all times! Franz. is the very first international student competition in sports, where students have direct access to the world’s preeminent sports institutions. Students develop concepts which Camp Beckenbauer and its partner can directly take up. Students battle it out in 2 rounds before qualifying for the finals in Germany.
Articles on internships, scholarships to target and more…. coming soon. Stay tuned!
