How to strengthen students’ working life opportunities in Oulu

Students came up with ideas, which were submitted to organisers in a short application form. Ten best ideas were chosen, and coaching sessions were organised to support students to prepare for presenting their ideas. All 10 finalists had to pitch their idea in front of a diverse jury representing different city stakeholders, during the Idea competition finals. The event was organized in a hybrid format, with most of the participants and audience being physically present at Business Asema. After all the participants pitched their ideas, the top 3 winners were chosen by the jury.

All 10 participants had very creative and practical ideas on how to solve the challenge. The ideas included: 4 programs/initiatives, one event, 2 mobile applications, and 3 courses. The winner of the Idea Competition got funding to implement the idea, 2nd and 3rd runner ups were also awarded with prizes such as having mentoring sessions, career advice by recruitment professionals, etc. All the other ideas drew a lot of interest from different groups at the university with the possibility of funding as well.