The Bouygues Construction Challenge – a corporate competition unique in its sector – was created 10 years ago to address the need to recruit recent graduates.

The eleventh Bouygues Construction Challenge is clearly focused on the issues facing the Group in 2007. Taking concessions as its theme – a fast-growing market – the Challenge will require students to examine a case study based on one of Bouygues Construction's current projects, namely the construction of a rail link between Johannesburg and Pretoria in South Africa. The teams of young people will thus be able to discover each phase of a concession project, including financing, design, construction and operation. Furthermore, the Challenge has taken on an international dimension, drawing students from other European countries. This year, students from France, the UK, Switzerland and Romania from around 20 institutions will work side by side on the case study. This underscores Bouygues Construction's determination to open up to different cultures and pursue its economic development through international expansion, especially in Europe.

The annual competition is aimed at students from leading higher education institutions – business and engineering schools, universities, management schools, etc. – who are given 48 hours to tackle an innovative case study. Multi-disciplinary teams of students become salespeople, technicians, financiers, designers, developers and contractors in turn as they put together their proposals and present them to a panel of company executives. After the two-day marathon, the young people are judged on their teamwork, resilience, resourcefulness, and time management and negotiating skills.

Open for several years now to students from engineering schools, political science institutes and French and European universities, the Bouygues Construction Challenge has become an opportunity for them to discover the wide range of careers in the construction industry. It is also an occasion for talent-spotting, and once the competition is over Bouygues Construction may offer students from the most outstanding teams jobs, placements or international corporate volunteer assignments. Since the creation of the Challenge, more than 200 participants have joined the group as employees, trainees or international corporate volunteers in support functions and construction positions alike.

To ensure that the event continues to be attractive and innovative, the Bouygues Construction Challenge directly involves company executives, enabling them to strengthen ties with the higher education institutions taking part. As well as helping the hundred or so candidates with their case study, this sharing of knowledge and experience may inspire some of them in their choice of career.