Opportunities for Businesses

When working with post-secondary students, businesses want to ensure they are receiving the right talent for their tasks. There are different opportunities that are available for businesses to connect with students and we have listed a few of those opportunities below. This list of opportunities is not exhaustive. Rather, it showcases just some of the local opportunities that have been shared with the Access Student Talent program. If you see an opportunity that catches your eye, contact us! We are happy to talk with you about your business needs, research the options that you may have for working with students, and connect you with the right person at the appropriate educational institution.

There are many, many options for working with students from our partner schools. In addition to the few options that are listed below, businesses can also work with Co-op Students, Part Time Students, and Full Time New Grads. Contact us today to learn more about these options.

Marketing and Social Media Opportunities

Are you looking for assistance in developing social media plans, creating a strategy for your online presence or having digital assets created? A marketing and social media student can help! With tasks ranging from reporting on marketing analytics, to the creation of videos, and writing media releases, these students can provide a wealth of knowledge to your organization. Check out these opportunities to see which is the best fit for your business.

Advertising and Marketing Communications Field Placement

Conestoga College (Unpaid)

Students in this program learn about advertising principles, related marketing management and development of advertising designs from idea to finished product. An Integrated Marketing Communications strategy is the foundation for applying their skills in multi-media planning and execution including online social media. Students are immersed in the tools and strategies that attract and engage visitors to a client’s brand and online presence.

Placement Duration: 150 hours over 5 weeks in the winter semester (late February and March 2021)

Typical placement activities can include:

  • Develop/create advertising and marketing communications material.
  • Develop strategic & creative solutions addressing advertising and marketing communications challenges.
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of advertising and marketing communications initiatives.
  • Design/create various digital assets.
  • Create and support social media content.
  • Identify a client’s target market/audience and define the consumer behaviour of each segment
Contact us

Social Media Course

Wilfrid Laurier University (Unpaid)

In this 4th year class, a small group of students will be partnered with an organization and those students will work in class to create a social media and marketing strategy for that organization. As part of this in-class project, the students will conduct research analysis of the business and their competition. In addition, the students may outline 6 months of draft content that the business can use for social media posts. This option would enable you to have a social media strategy prepared by the students, but would not include any type implementation. I have attached the project plan details for more information.

Duration: These students will work on the project over the course of the winter semester (January – April 2021)

The expectations of the employers participating in this in-class project include:

  • Meeting (virtually) with the group of students at the beginning of the project to review the project and answer questions
  • Being available during the semester (by email or phone) when questions come up for the students
  • Visiting (virtually) the class near the end of the semester to listen to the students present their plan
Contact us

Public Relations Placement

Conestoga College (unpaid)

In this program, students will learn strategic and creative communication strategies to solve organizational problems or make the most of business opportunities. Students will apply creative writing and tactical execution developed with a foundation of business knowledge. Students participating in the placement are in their last semester. The program focuses on strategic and tactical communication with a foundation of business knowledge. Placement students have completed three specialized PR writing courses as well as courses in Media Relations, Issues/ Crisis Management, Research, Event Planning, Social Media Management.

Placement Duration: 120 hours over 5 weeks in the winter semester (February and March 2020)

Typical placement activities can include:

  • Participate in agency event planning, marketing and implementation
  • Contribute to marketing campaign (monthly newsletter, podcasts, e-blasts, blogs)
  • Usage of Social Media Tools (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google +)
  • Research and preparation of media lists and editorial calendars
  • Develop media pitches and conducting media outreach
  • Build and maintain media distribution lists and public relations files
  • Prepare event news releases, interactive media kits, and other external communications
Contact us

Journalism Placement

Conestoga College (unpaid)

Students in this program develop multimedia skills that are used in digital news reporting and storytelling across all media platforms. In this program, students take courses in photojournalism, as well as audio and video technologies that are vital to telling stories. In addition to the first-hand experience with the challenges and deadlines of real-world production cycles, students receive in-depth training in story development, live reporting, feature reporting, expression of person opinions, entrepreneurship (including freelancing) and long-form reporting approaches, such as documentary production and magazine writing.

Placement Duration: Students participate in this 80 hour placement during their final year.

Typical Placement Activities:

  • Create, edit and manage social media content
  • Events – attend to take photographs/video and write articles
  • Research and write articles or edit articles
  • Shoot and edit videos and photos
  • Develop story ideas
  • Conduct interviews
Contact us

Broadcasting – Television and Independent Production Placement

Conestoga College (unpaid)

Students in this program are passionate about visual storytelling through film and video and they learn to write, shoot, edit and perform on camera. Storytelling is enhanced through lighting, sound design, and post-production finishing, using industry-standard software to edit, composite, animate motion-graphics, and colour grade.

Placement Duration: 210 hours over 6 weeks in the Winter term

Typical Placement Activities:

  • Set up & operate cameras and other production equipment.
  • Set up lighting, mics & operate audio board.
  • Digital storytelling.
  • Video creation and editing.
  • Research for show segments, concept ideas, etc.
  • Production assistance
Contact us

Office Administration Opportunities

When running your small business, you know that there are always a variety of tasks on your plate to complete. Are you looking for support with reception, scheduling, or even staff scheduling? Office Administration students would be a great solution to get the support your require. Students can support you in a variety of ways including document creation, special projects, and even data entry. View these opportunities to see which is the best fit for your business.

Health Office Administration Field Placement

Conestoga College (Unpaid)

Main knowledge outcomes for students in this program include bookkeeping, Medical Office Administration, Dental and Wellness Office Administration, Essential Anatomy and Physiology, and Office Procedures. Throughout the program, students develop their professional, technical, communication and interpersonal skills with a wide variety of hands-on practical experience and emphasis on critical thinking, ethical decision-making and problem-solving skills.

Placement Duration: 245 hours over 7 weeks in the winter semester (March 8 to April 23, 2021)

Typical placement activities can include:

  • Reception, scheduling/appointment confirmation, and Third party billing.
  • HER (keying and scanning), medical transcription, and clinical tasks as directed.
  • Service coordination, staff scheduling, client billing, health information management, and data entry.
  • Information management, document creation, and special projects.
Contact us

Office Administration Executive

Conestoga College (Unpaid)

Students in the Office Administration Executive program complete a 90 hour placement. Some students in this program complete their placement in a three week block and others are more flexible as to when they complete it. Students in this program learn to responsibly manage the administrative tasks that support challenging, dynamic office environments. Students gain exceptional computer skills, efficient document processing skills, the ability to communicate professionally and the organizational expertise to keep the office running smoothly. Some of the courses completed by the students include: Business Math, Bookkeeping for Office Settings, Financial Applications in Business, and Database Management.

Placement Duration: 90 hours

Typical Placement Activities:

  • Create innovative and dynamic PowerPoint presentations
  • Enter data into databases and spreadsheets
  • Coordinate meetings including preparation of agendas and transcribing minutes
  • Produce accurate business correspondence
  • Create client mailing lists and perform mail mergers
  • Handle receptionist duties and greet visitors
Contact us

Office Administration – Legal

Conestoga College (Unpaid)

This two year program provides students with a specialization in legal administrative procedures and processes to meet the needs of an increasingly global and technology advancing legal industry.

Placement Duration:

90 hours during a 3 week period in the winter semester (April 2020)

Typical Placement Activities:

  • Preparation of legal correspondence, documentation, and memoranda
  • Conduct legal research
  • Process and transcribe documents
  • Production of Small Claims Court documents
  • Create client mailing lists and perform mail mergers
  • Enter data into databases and spreadsheets
  • Coordinate meeting including preparation of agendas and transcribing minutes
  • Handle receptionist duties and greet visitors
Contact us

Business Operations Improvement Opportunities

Improving your small business is often on the forefront of many business owners’ minds. Working with a Business student can allow you to develop business plans and work on special projects. Do you have an idea for your business but aren’t sure how to implement it? A student can use their expertise from their courses to lay out the possible ways you can reach your next business goal.

Business Operations Analysis Course

Conestoga College (Unpaid)

This course is part of the 16-month Information Technology Business Analysis- Operations post-degree certificate program at Conestoga College. This course enables businesses to get an experienced outsider’s opinion on their current processes in an effort to improve their business efficiencies. Student groups will examine a business’s current operations and work to provide an analysis and comprehensive recommendations to help the business model adapt to changing markets or pivot to using different operational technologies. Students in this certificate program develop critical skills in the following information technology areas: application software, business data analysis and modeling, customer engagement management, business processes, enterprise resource planning, and communications. This option would enable a business to receive an 8-10 month strategic plan developed by students, but would not involve any form of implementation.

Duration: This course runs every semester (January- April, May – August, and September -December)

The expectations of the employers participating in this in-class project include:

  • Meeting (virtually) with the course professors at the beginning of the semester to discuss the course timeline and expectations
  • Provide a 45 – 60 minute presentation to the student groups to explain the business model and identify any operational dilemmas
  • Being available during the semester (by email or phone) when questions come up for the students, with a 4-7 business day turnaround time
  • Visiting (virtually) the class near the end of the semester to listen to the students present their plan
Contact us

EDGE – University of Waterloo Work-Integrated Learning Certificate

University of Waterloo

Students in EDGE are University of Waterloo undergraduate students in regular (non-co-operative) programs who are actively developing key professional skills, exploring their career options, and learning how to market themselves to employers. Students in EDGE come from a wide variety of programs and faculties including Math, Science, Environment, Health, and Arts. Students participating in EDGE complete three required work/community experience milestones. Students seek paid or volunteer experiences to count towards each milestone. While participating in experiences students engage in a professional development course to support their learning and engagement.

Experience Duration: minimum 36 hours over a semester (September – December, January – April, or May – August)

Each experience must:

  • Be vetted and approved by EDGE program staff
  • Be a minimum of 36 hours within a term
  • Provide active skill development for student
  • Provide a student performance evaluation at the end of the term
Contact us
Contact us

Interested in learning more?

We would love to hear from you! Fill out our contact form to be connect with Allison Mitchell, Program Manager of the Access Student Talent Program. Our team will then connect you with the appropriate contact to help your work with students.

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