What is the U21/PwC competition? This online competition challenges U21 students to respond to contemporary, globally-important work-related issues (set by PwC) via a short three-minute video. The videos are judged by PwC and their clients, who are leaders in graduate career development. The challenge offers students the opportunity to apply their knowledge to ‘real-world’ situations and reflect on their own experiences.
Eligibility: The competition is open to any currently registered graduate student (this includes students from taught and research masters programmes, MPhils etc., and PhDs).
The challenge for Group B is as follows:
We are living through a fundamental transformation in the way we work; automation and "thinking machines" are replacing human tasks, changing the skills that organisations are looking for in their people. But what will the future look like? PwC has developed four scenarios in their Workforce of the Future study: a Red World where innovation rules; a Blue World where corporate is king; a Green World where companies care, and a Yellow World where humans come first.
Assuming you find yourself on a journey that looks like it ends in a "Green and Yellow Worlds" scenario where Companies Care and Humans Come First, what are the pros and cons for you? what skills will be important for individuals to thrive in this world, and how do you plan on adapting to it?
The challenge question can also be found via the U21 website alongside other general information about the competition.
One overall winner from this group round will be awarded an expenses-paid trip to Dubai (7 days) courtesy of PwC where they will get the chance to explore the city and also see some of the innovative projects taking place there. PwC will also arrange an internship opportunity for each group winner with either PwC or a locally-based client. Runner-up prizes (2 from this group round) will include career development coaching with the PwC Academy. Everyone entered into this round will receive access to online training via the PwC Academy and Coursera; the assessment and certificate fees will be covered by PwC.
UBC will be submitting the top 3 entries received. Full details, including information on Intellectual Property, are available in the handbook on the website. In brief:
- Video presentations are strictly limited to 3 minutes and competitors exceeding this will be disqualified.
- Entrants will be judged on their presentation skills and they must feature in the video.
- Group submissions are not accepted.
- It is permissible to use a maximum of one slide per presentation. (see slide template attached)
- The 3-minute audio must be continuous – no edits or breaks etc.
- Presentations are to be spoken word only (e.g. no poems, raps or songs).
- No additional electronic media (e.g. sound and video files) are permitted within the video recording.
- Props are not allowed.
- The decision of the adjudicating panel is final.
- Group round winners and runners up will be expected to provide a report after the competition to reflect on their experience
Winners from Group A can be found at https://universitas21.com/news-and-events/news/universitas-21-and-pwc-announce-winners-innovation-challenge-group
Deadline for internal submission to UBC is Thursday, November 15 to jacqui.brinkman@ubc.ca . One option for sharing is posting your video to YouTube and unlisting. Successful UBC submissions will need to submit a final video, either as an MP4 file or .MOV.
Announcement of winner to take place week beginning December 3.
Any questions may be directed to jacqui.brinkman@ubc.ca