Have you ever been told that what you’re experiencing now in college is nothing like the “real world”? Most college students find themselves stumbling through their college years, trying desperately to find their life passion in a short span of four years. Case competitions, however, offer students a unique opportunity to taste the “real world.”

1. Increases public speaking abilities

Regardless of what field a student may ultimately choose, public speaking is a skill pertinent to every career out there. Even in pre-med or engineering related careers, students must know how to present themselves in a charismatic manner if they want to get to the top of the ladder, whether that be successfully completing an interview or gaining important connections in a networking opportunity.

Case competitions require eye contact, confidence, and the whole nine yards, which will surely hone in a student’s public speaking abilities.

2. Experience the business world

Although many students may believe that only business students need to participate in case competitions, participating in a case competition will allow a student to measure whether or not they truly want to do business.

For example, a student may be set on majoring in History or Classics, but find themselves immensely enjoying the case competition experience. Who knows, maybe business is the right place for you.

3. Test your ideas

Every student has the ability to think creatively and conjure up solutions to complex issues. Case competitions offer students the unique opportunity to apply their innovation in a business scenario.

In many cases, there is no such thing as a bad idea in case competitions, as long as the student is able to back it up with reason and evidence. This is a way for students to test and defend their ideas to the judges.

4. Friendships & Connections

Now, many case competitions do give large sums of money as monetary prizes for placing in the competitions. However, even more valuable are the connections you make during case competitions. When you find yourself staying up until 5 a.m. struggling to finish the slide deck with your fellow teammates, you’ll find yourself getting closer with these individuals, and creating strong connections with people that you may not have gotten to know otherwise.