Our Mission
To empower young people to achieve their dreams
The Full Story
Why Catapult?
The job market has become increasingly difficult for students. According to the Institute of Student Employers, cited in this Guardian article, there were 86 applications for every graduate vacancy in 2023. Internships have become more competitive to secure, with the recruitment cycle being pushed earlier and earlier. Some spring weeks have even started opening before freshers begin at university.
The Problem
As "experience" becomes a pre-requisite to getting more experience, this Catch-22 is detrimental to students. Students are more stressed and anxious than ever before about finding internships and jobs. Students who don't have "family connections" suffer work experience inequality, which disadvantages them for the next internship, and next job, and so on.
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This affects all students - even the students who do land placements - as this arms race of CV-building causes students to have to narrow down their career choice even before university, prompting a quarter-life crisis, junior-level attrition for companies, and people going down paths which are not what they really want to do.
Our Solution
We want to change the world for the better. Catapult is solving this problem by creating bite-sized, yet impactful term-time and summer internships. This helps companies who need a hand with their projects, while giving students the experience they are looking for. It levels the playing field for all students, and lets students explore the various possible career paths during university - the way it used to be!