What is a hackathon? Why every student should try one

A hackathon for university students is one of the most exciting, career-boosting, and genuinely fun experiences available, regardless of what you study. If you've never been to one, you could be missing out on an career-defining experience.

What's a hackathon?

A hackathon for students is a time-limited event, usually between 12 and 48 hours, where teams come together to solve a real problem and pitch their solution.

Teams typically include people with different skills - developers, designers, business thinkers, and communicators - working together to build a product, service, or concept from scratch. At the end, teams present their solution to a panel of judges, often including industry professionals, investors, and entrepreneurs.

Why hackathons matter for students

Employers value hackathon experience on a CV. Not because winning proves you're a genius, but because participating demonstrates that you can:

• Work under pressure
• Collaborate with people you have just met
• Think creatively about real-world problems
• Deliver something tangible to a deadline. 

These are exactly the skills graduate employers consistently say applicants lack.

Beyond the CV, hackathons build your professional network faster than almost any other student activity. The people you meet - fellow participants, mentors, judges, and sponsors - are often exactly the people you want to know as you build your career. Some of the best professional relationships and startup partnerships began at hackathons.

If you are studying at the University of East London and want to develop your enterprise skills, access innovation challenges, and connect with London’s startup ecosystem, UEL’s student enterprise team runs a range of programmes designed to help students think like entrepreneurs from day one, including support for turning hackathon ideas into real businesses.

You don't need to know how to code

This is the biggest myth about hackathons, and it discourages exactly the students who would benefit most from attending.

Yes, developers are valuable in a hackathon team. But so are designers, marketers, storytellers, business strategists, and people who are simply good at understanding what customers actually need. A team of five developers with nobody who can communicate the idea clearly will almost always lose to a mixed team that combines technical skills with strong presentation and business thinking.

The best hackathon teams are diverse. If you can think critically, communicate clearly, or contribute creatively to solving a problem, you belong at a hackathon.

Skills you need for a hackathon

The skills needed for a hackathon aren't always the ones you might expect.

• Problem solving

Problem solving is the foundation. Hackathons present participants with a challenge - often a real-world problem that an organisation or industry is genuinely trying to address - and your job is to find a creative, practical solution. The ability to break a complex problem into manageable pieces and work systematically towards an answer is often more valuable than technical expertise alone.

• Teamwork

Teamwork is non-negotiable. You will be working with people you may have just met, under significant time pressure. The ability to communicate clearly, listen well, and contribute positively to a team dynamic is what separates the groups that produce something coherent from the ones that fall apart after a few hours.

• Time management

Hackathons develop time management skills quickly and effectively. You learn how to prioritise, how to cut non-essential features, and how to deliver something good enough rather than something perfect — a lesson that applies in almost every career.

• Communication and presentation

Communication and presentation skills often determine whether a team wins. A brilliant solution presented poorly will usually lose to a good solution delivered with confidence and clarity. Learning how to explain complex ideas to a non-technical audience is one of the most valuable things a hackathon teaches.

How to prepare for your first hackathon

Know your strengths and be honest about them. Are you a developer, a designer, a business thinker, or a communicator? Go in understanding what you bring to a team so you can find collaborators who complement your skills rather than duplicate them.

Do a quick skills inventory. Make a list of your technical skills, soft skills, and any specialist knowledge you have — whether that is healthcare, education, sustainability, finance, or another area. Hackathons often focus on specific industries or social challenges, and domain knowledge can be as valuable as technical ability.

It also helps to understand how ideas become businesses. Even a basic understanding of customer segments, revenue models, and value propositions - the foundations of the Business Model Canvas - can give your team an advantage when presenting a commercially viable solution rather than just a clever prototype.

On the day itself: say yes to opportunities, speak to people you do not know, and remember that the point is not only to win. The real value comes from learning, building, and leaving with new skills, connections, and experiences.

Thinking like an entrepreneur

The mindset that makes someone effective in a hackathon is often the same mindset that makes someone effective as an entrepreneur.

It starts with seeing problems as opportunities. Every frustration, inefficiency, or gap is a potential starting point for a solution. The strongest hackathon participants usually arrive already thinking this way.

It also involves becoming comfortable with uncertainty. You will not have all the answers, and your first idea will probably not be your best. The ability to test an idea, learn quickly, and adapt without losing momentum is one of the most valuable lessons hackathons teach -  and one of the most transferable skills in careers shaped by innovation and change.