I have written about the marketing benefits of sponsoring design competitions among students. A correspondent points out another benefit: Recruiting. She writes,

I participated in student competitions when I was in school for Construction Management. I was trying to figure out why Centex would put up all the money to do the competition.

Then I realized that they essentially got to interview all the best CM students in the country and run us thru the most grueling interview circuit I’ve ever experienced. They offered internships to the ones they liked and jobs to the ones graduating that they really liked.