Run it once
Four-Week Challenge
One cohort, your brief, four weeks. You receive the work, skill data on every participant, and a ranked shortlist with Skills Track Records.
For employers
Hire from students who did your real work.
Bring one problem from your business. Students at the colleges you choose work on it for four weeks, evaluated by mentors and peers. You get the work, a ranked shortlist, and a Skills Track Record on every top performer. Employer programs run through Future Bench.
No obligation to hire · Your name on the challenge, your hiring plans private
4 weeksof observed, evaluated work
360°mentor and peer evaluated
190+countries reached
Campus recruiting today: two or three drives a year
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Your Always-On Challenge: open every month
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How it works
One brief, four weeks, a ranked shortlist
You bring a problem and a few checkpoint hours. We design the program, run the cohorts, and evaluate the work.
Programs
Run it once, or keep it open all year
Most employers run one challenge first, then keep it running across the colleges they choose.
Keep it running
Always-On Challenge
Your challenge stays open all year at the colleges you choose. Placement teams promote it on campus, the brief refreshes each term, and you get a Standing Report every month.
Know them before you hire
Your Bench
Strong performers who are too early to hire stay on your bench, taking a new challenge each term. By graduation you have two years of verified performance on people you already know.
Already running
With Cisco, Grant Thornton China, and Stanley Black & Decker
Grant Thornton China received 30+ qualified prospects and 75+ recommended performers from 906 completions. Cisco, with Illinois Tech, received 56 reusable security builds from 287 students who completed the program. Stanley Black & Decker received two engineering concepts from a staged competition. Full case studies are on Future Bench.
Cisco
With partner institutions including
Employer programs
Excelerate runs employer challenges through Future Bench.
Future Bench is where employers scope a challenge, read the case studies, and start a program. It runs on Excelerate's network of colleges and learners in 190+ countries, wherever an employer hires. Students never leave Excelerate; employers get a front door built for hiring.
How a challenge works, the three programs, the Skills Track Record, and three published case studies.
futurebench.orgQuestions
Before the first call
No. We take nothing when you hire someone you met through a challenge. We provide the evidence; the decision and the relationship are yours.
No. Students see your name and the problem you set. They do not see hiring numbers, target roles, or strategy, because the brief is sanitised before it reaches them. Confidentiality and ownership of all work product are covered in a standard agreement.
Four mentored weeks on a named employer's real problem, feedback at every checkpoint, and a Skills Track Record and certificate carrying the challenge's name. Participation is free. Top performers also earn an interview.
A brief, a kickoff call, a welcome in week one, and a seat on the closing panel in week four. We handle design, cohorts, facilitation, and evaluation.
Annual programs billed monthly, scoped by reach, term, and the countries you hire in. No per-student or per-hire fees. We share a proposal after one conversation. Run one Four-Week Challenge first; if you start an Always-On program within ninety days, that first fee comes off the annual program.
Excelerate's main site is built for students and institutions. Future Bench is the employer front door: scoping, case studies, programs, and contact in one place. Same network, same Skills Track Record.