Cognizant wanted their annual work experience programme to give young people an insight into careers in tech, particularly those from under-represented backgrounds without relevant role models and mentors, in line with the theme of Tackling Economic Inequality.

The team sought a partner to help create, organise and facilitate the work experience programme. The programme needed to be hybrid, in line with the Cognizant working model, and provide clear metrics they could report on.

Now entering our third year of partnership together, Cognizant and Connectr Early Engagement have positively impacted 85 students in the 2 work experience programmes, who attended at least 4 full days of the programme.

Delivering social value with a flexible work experience programme

Connectr partnered with Cognizant to develop a one-week hybrid work experience.

The programme highlights included:

3 x in-person days and 2 x virtual days. The in-person days topped and tailed the programme, creating excitement and ensuring students would buy into the programme from the start. Students loved meeting employees, seeing the office, and getting to feel the Cognizant culture firsthand!

A group project. We designed the work experience around a group project, where the students worked in teams to research, design, and present a solution to a real-world problem using technology. This provided a clear focus, helping them to stay self-motivated on the virtual days.

Mentoring support from Cognizant employees. Students had access to Cognizant employees who acted as mentors on their projects, giving them an insight into the skills and knowledge they could develop over time.

We brought to life the programme's results with a branded Social Impact report that gave Cognizant the evidence it needed to satisfy several government contracts.

Providing social value with a hybrid work experience programme

The feedback showed that the programme was a success, and by applying feedback and learnings from 2024, we've increased the impact for students taking part in 2025.

🚀 In 2025, students demonstrated a 59% increase in their understanding of careers in tech following work experience - up from 53% in 2024

📈 In 2025, attendees reported a 23% increase in their likelihood of pursuing a tech career after the work experience - up from an 18% shift in 2024

Retention was high, indicating a high level of engagement. In 2025, 100% of those who started the week attended 4 days, and 90% of students attended all 5 days.

“I wanted to gain a firsthand insight into how digital technology is transforming the world of work. I have been interested in tech for quite some time now and thought it would be a great opportunity to see how exactly tech companies are run, what roles people have and how they work together using tech to help their clients.”

Student participant, July 2025

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2025 participants demonstrated a 51% increase in their preparedness to enter the world of work from Day 1 to Day 5, illustrating that work preparedness can be achieved with a 40% virtual programme when correctly developed.

"Having partnered with Connectr for a number of years, we are delighted to expand our partnership with them to support on Cognizant’s Work Experience programme.

Our vision is to excite and educate young people from under-represented backgrounds about a career in tech because as an industry we still have a way to go to improve the diversity of our workforce."

‍Vanessa Soames, Social Value Director for Cognizant UK Public Sector and Health