The part I miss the most from high school were these kinds of competitions.
Having to study random fun things and being rewarded for it was peak happiness for teenage me.
Having to study random fun things and being rewarded for it was peak happiness for teenage me.
I had the opposite experience. My school was really into competitions for everything, and it was incredibly demotivating because I didn't care if I was the best at something. Putting effort in for tangible rewards (eg money) is great, but working for a shiny cup or 'glory' is something I've never understood. No one else will care 10 minutes after you've won.
Depends on the competition, but success in federal/national/international competitions is an extremely positive signal during hiring. In my experience (from both sides), at least.
You must be good at SWE interviews.
I used to take part in this, and informatics olympiad, but I never got anywhere. Even if I never really was good at this, I still miss these things. Now that I'm studying, there are no such things. :|
The other more "serious" programming contests, ACM, Google Code Jam, Top Coder, Codeforces, etc etc -- felt a bit too artificial and too "serious" for my tastes. But if you found competitive programming fun you might like them too.
I haven't heard much about similar things being available for adults in other STEM areas unfortunately. Maybe someone else does?