Solve & Hired by Arete
Bring one real problem for a junior role. We reach students through university communities and run the challenge. In about three weeks, meet up to five finalists with their work, decision record and a 10-minute live Q&A.
Your problem. Their work. Your decision.
or book a 20-minute call
RecordIllustrative exampleFinalist 03 · Strategy and Operations · 5 hours in the workspace
Recommendation
Acquire, but on an earn-out tied to retention.
Decision 1 of 3
I framed it as a retention question, not a growth question. GreenCrate’s revenue looks strong, but 58% of customers leave within three months.
Students from these universities have applied to and taken part in Arete.
Inside the actual product
The Arete workspace brings the task, research and writing together. Decision checkpoints ask students to explain their judgement in their own words.
The report and assistant sit side by side, with changes saved as the work develops.
The assistant pauses at checkpoints so the student can explain what they chose and why.
Inside the Arete workspace
One problem. Four moments that show how a student thinks.
Northfield × GreenCrateIllustrative examplePart 1 / Retention diagnosis
58% leave within three months
I would start with retention. Revenue growth alone does not show whether GreenCrate's customers stay.
Working question
Can Northfield improve retention enough to justify the acquisition?
A real brief. Their own approach.
Arete x Blackmont Consulting Career HackathonAt the hackathon we co-hosted with Blackmont Consulting, Blackmont hired a finalist on the day of the final.
applications to our first Consulting Career Hackathon
universities
countries
Our first final was judged by professionals with backgrounds at McKinsey, EY and Morgan Stanley.
Judges and mentors in our network have worked at
What you get
Students apply with their Arete portfolio. Members of partner societies get first access.
An evidence record on each finalist and a 10-minute live Q&A with your hiring manager.
Illustrative example / Finalist 03
“I framed it as a retention question, not a growth question.”
Acquire, but on an earn-out tied to retention.
How a Hiring Challenge works
45 minutes with us to write the brief.
Members of partner societies get first access.
AI use, revisions and three written decision checkpoints, recorded in the workspace.
An evidence record on each and a 10-minute live Q&A with your hiring manager. Your team decides what comes next.
A 45-minute brief. A 10-minute Q&A per finalist. About three weeks from brief to shortlist.
From the answer to the evidence
Today you see
A polished document
How the text was drafted and revised in the workspace, and what they asked AI to do
Illustrative example
Draft 1: acquire outright. Draft 2: earn-out tied to retention.
Today you see
A final answer
Today you see
Everything they included
Today you see
A rehearsed story
Today you see
A 30-minute slot
A brief that feels like your work
The brief looks like
An answer-first recommendation with an issue tree and a sanity-checked estimate
The record pays attention to
The first hypothesis, the dropped branch, how they checked the AI’s market size
Illustrative example
“I dropped the pricing branch; churn, not price, drives the loss.”
The AI momentChecked the AI’s market size against two sources and used the lower one.
Illustrative example
Both recommend the acquisition. Read the reasoning side by side.
AIs GreenCrate growing fast enough to justify the price?
BWhy do GreenCrate customers leave, and can Northfield fix it?
ARevenue growth and market size
BMonthly cohort retention and refund reasons
AKept the AI’s market size of £2.1bn as given
BAsked for a market size, checked it against two sources, rejected the growth rate
AKept the first recommendation throughout
BChanged “acquire outright” to “acquire on an earn-out” after the cohort data
AIf the market stopped growing.
BIf month-six retention stays under 30% after the onboarding fix.
Same conclusion. Different reasoning. Your team decides what matters for the role.
A hiring decision, grounded in real work
Bring the role and a problem your team recognises. We organise the challenge and bring you the work behind each finalist. You decide who to take forward.
Start a Hiring ChallengeA challenge shared through relevant university communities.
The output, written decisions and the changes behind them.
A live Q&A to follow up on what matters to your team.
What we ask of every company
Students get a real experience; you get finalists who took it seriously.
In participants’ own words
From working through a personalised project to defending a recommendation in a hackathon.
What I appreciated the most was that this did not feel like a generic case exercise. The process challenged me to test assumptions, turn my research into a clear recommendation and a practical implementation plan.
It didn’t feel like another case competition. It felt like real work for a real company, and the feedback was about how I thought, not just what I handed in.
NYUBusinessI grew more in these few weeks than in a semester of applications. And it wasn’t only practice: the work was seen by people who hire.
Cornell UniversityEconomicsI hadn’t seen anything like this before. A project made for my goals, real judges, and a clear path to actual opportunities.
WhartonBusinessThe first time I have done a project I actually wanted to do.
I’ve never worked on something I genuinely enjoyed this much. The project was built around me, not a generic case, and I could see myself getting better at each step.
Imperial College LondonChemical EngineeringFor the first time, a project actually fitted the role I want. I tested my own assumptions, changed my mind when the data said so, and came out with work I’m proud to show.
UCLEconomicsA few practical questions
Each finalist brings their submitted work, an evidence record of the decisions behind it, and a 10-minute live Q&A. Your team makes the hiring decision.
Plan for a 45-minute brief and a 10-minute live Q&A with each of up to five finalists. Allow time to read their records too. The challenge takes about three weeks from brief to shortlist.
Start with a non-confidential outline. We agree what students can see, and whether the brief needs anonymised data or an NDA, before the challenge begins.
Yes. The workspace records how students use the assistant, what they keep or change, and the decisions they explain in their own words.
Pay when you hire. We discuss the commercial details directly with your team before a challenge goes ahead.
You decide whether anyone is right for the role. There is no obligation to make an offer.