7 Reasons Why Every University Should Host A Student Hackathon

Sabreen Swan

Content Strategist/Writer at Eventornado

If you thought hackathons were reserved for the Googles and Spotifys of the world, think again.

More and more universities and higher education institutions have been organizing hackathons for their students, producing thousands of ambitious ideas and creating an innovative student culture in the process.

Whether your theme is science, technology, math or engineering, hackathons are a fantastic way to bring students together, inspire innovation and teamwork, and solve real-world problems that students care about.

So in this post, we share just a handful of some of the benefits of organizing a hackathon for university students. 

Index

1. Hackathons help cultivate students’ networking skills
2. Hackathons inspire healthy competition
3. Hackathons inspire students to take risks
4. Hackathons help students boost their resumes/portfolio
5. Hackathons get students in front of potential employers
6. Hackathons help students develop public speaking skills
7. Hackathons help students develop superior problem-solving skills
8. Launch your first hackathon with Eventornado

Let’s jump in!
 

1. Hackathons help cultivate students’ networking skills

Not only do students get the chance to meet and engage with other students, but it’s also a great opportunity for them to mingle with mentors, guests, panellists, judges and sponsors.

They’ll also be able to develop and build essential critical communication and interpersonal skills as they attempt to hold conversations with professionals in their target industry.

The idea of networking is often an intimidating concept for many students, but with the help of hackathons,  you can introduce it in a familiar, high-energy setting where ‘networking’ itself isn’t the big and scary focus of the day.

2. Hackathons inspire healthy competition 

By nature, hackathons are naturally competitive environments, and we know a dose of healthy competition contributes to overall student growth as they prepare for life after education. 

With the fast-paced buzz that these events are known for, it’s natural for participants to feel fired up as they work to present the winning prototype to judges, and it can work in their favour. Hackathons usually last 24-48 hours which can prove both exciting and challenging, and what better to raise the stakes of the event and ensure teams strive to do their very best!

3. Hackathons inspire students to take risks 

By organizing a hackathon for your students, you give them the opportunity to take risks in a safe and familiar setting. 

That means students can be free to be as daring as they like, which they might not be able to do in a professional working setting, where there’s always the risk of a gamble not paying off. During a hackathon, failing is simply part of the process, and there’s no cost should something not work out.

4. Hackathons help students boost their resumes/portfolio

Winning teams at hackathons get to enjoy more than just the thrill of success after impressing judges with their prototype. 

They also get an impressive addition to their resumes that can really help them stand out among other graduates and job candidates as they embark on post-university life and get their first jobs. 

And for winning and runner-up teams, that’s solid evidence of innovation they can demonstrate before they’ve even walked into a job interview!

5. Hackathons get students in front of potential employers

Many organizations use hackathons as a way to find fresh and ambitious talent to recruit for new roles at their company.

Depending on who your hackathon sponsors, panellists and judges are, you too can use it as an opportunity to get your students in front of the right people so they can demonstrate their skills and employability.

6. Hackathons help students develop public speaking skills

As part of the selection process, hackathons require teams to demonstrate their idea with a short presentation to peers and judges.

But unless ideas are perfectly formed and ready to be prototyped, pitching unfinished, possibly messy ideas to a panel of judges while your peers watch, can be scary.

Pitching an idea in front of a room of people requires courage, confidence and some amount of strategy, and you can help your students get a headstart before they enter the working world. What’s more, students can experience what it’s like working in a team under a high-pressure setting, a skill that can set them apart from other job candidates when the time comes.

7. Hackathons help students develop superior problem-solving skills 

If you take just one thing away from this post, let it be this. Hackathons are basically crash course master classes in how to solve problems, and how to solve them fast.

The very nature of these events demands it! The short timeframe (24-48hr) pushes participants to think on their feet, the limited resources encourage them to be resourceful, and the prize value spurs them to think out of the box and bring out their best ideas. 

With analytical thinking and problem-solving among the most in-demand job skills predicted for 2025, universities can use hackathons to give students a jumpstart into their future success.

Launch your first hackathon with Eventornado

Organizing a hackathon can be incredibly rewarding, whether you’re a new startup on the scene or if you’ve already made a name for yourself in the industry and want to make an even bigger impact. 

If you’re ready to launch yours, book yourself in for a free demo of Eventornado to see how easy the planning process can be! We help all our hackathon organisers to plan, manage and host their events as smoothly as possible, without repetitive tasks and messy workflows. 

Want to read more articles? Check out our library of blog posts and guides where you’ll find lots of useful insights and tips for first-time hackathon organisers.