Students competing at the worldwide finals of Microsoft's Imagine Cup will not receive job offers.
The technology competition, which saw in excess of 100 000 students from over 100 countries competing in the regional competitions, is taking place in Seoul, South Korea, this week.
Microsoft director of academic initiatives Joe Wilson says the 112 teams to reach the finals are the "best of the best". However, he adds the global software vendor will not use the competition as a hunting ground for new employees.
"This competition is not about Microsoft; it's about encouraging innovation and building a larger ecosystem. This is the fifth year of the competition and it's grown by word of mouth among students. The very reason for this interest and growth has been the fact that we are not trying to recruit people," he explains.
Imagine Cup partner and sponsor BT will also not use its Innovation Accelerator programme for recruitment.
Kevin Nickles, BT's director of concept-to-market, explains: "The accelerator programme takes the top three teams from the software design portion of the competition, as well as three specially chosen teams, to the UK to help them take the next step. The outcomes of the programme depend very much on what each individual team wants to do - we are there just to help fast track their progress.
"As for trying to recruit these students, it's important to understand that students by their very nature are idealistic. If Microsoft and BT are not pure in intent, these students will disengage and lose interest in the competition. A student would have to ask us for a job before we looked at recruitment opportunities," he adds.
However, that does not mean Microsoft and BT do not benefit from the competition.
Nickles explains: "All the big ideas come from kids these days. As Joe [Wilson] says, Microsoft itself was formed by a group of students. Being part of this competition is fun and interesting. It's inspiring to see what these students come up with and we get a heads-up on what interests them most."
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