Interactive Media Writer – Create long-form content to support podcast content and campaigns. Research and identify small business trends to develop content, and work with the creative team to develop blog and social media posts. Understanding SEO would be an asset.  Apply Now

Multimedia Products Designer – Work with the creative team from pre- to post-production: from video shooting, editing, development, photography, and graphics development. Develop assets for social media and longer form content for brand storytelling, training videos and testimonials.  Apply Now  

Web Graphic Designer – Redesign text heavy resources into building block content to support tech entrepreneurs to launch and grow their venture. Also, suggest improvements to website content to improve user experience.  Apply Now 

Web Content Specialist – Create content for social media platforms and manage community relationships. Research trending topics and write compelling content that will engage. This role will also support cleantech priorities for Canada.  Apply Now 

Please ensure: 

• You are between the ages of 15 to 30 years old 
• You are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident  
• You are returning as a full-time student in fall 2024, 
• You have a valid Social Insurance Number 
• You are currently living in the Greater Toronto Area 

 For inquiries, contact communications@altitudeaccelerator.ca  

The post Altitude is Hiring Summer Students. Apply Now! appeared first on Altitude Accelerator.

Do you have trouble attracting top talent for your startup? In a survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, of the 150 startup CEO’s surveyed, 26% saw attracting and retaining talent as one of their biggest challenges.

With this increasing struggle, cash-strapped startups can look to experiential learning programs offered by universities or not-for-profit organizations to supply skilled and affordable short term labour. Experiential learning programs give post-secondary students the opportunity to partner with innovative companies to solve real-world problems using their technical knowledge. Startups participating in experiential learning programs often gain company and brand exposure as well as access, for a short period of time, to qualified labour. Programs and organizations, such as the Ontario Center of Excellence (OCE) Connections program and Mitacs, a not-for-profit dedicated to the coordination of industry-university research projects, offer innovative organizations partnerships with post-secondary students.
This year, OCE Discovery hosted the OCE Connections competition where several student-industry projects were selected for review by a panel of industry experts for a chance to win $2,000 in prizes. This program-turned-competition, gives post-secondary students an opportunity to tackle real-world problems faced by innovative companies in Ontario and is a great way for startups to get access to qualified labour. The winners of this year’s competition included Mohawk College, Western University and Queen’s University, in partnership with Tiffany Metal-Castings Ltd, City of London and Utilities Kingston.

Another organization to provide experiential learning programs is Mitacs, an organization that supports and promotes academic-industrial R&D between companies and graduate students. This organization helps identify innovative needs of organizations and then matches them with academic experts. Among the number of Mitacs Programs available, the Mitacs Enterprise program can help startups looking to scale in size and scope, gain highly capable individuals to solve pressing innovative problems.

As a startup business who participated in the Mitacs Enterprise Program, Mr. Kolacz of Ottawa based Global Spatial Technology Solutions Inc. has this to say:

“In the start-up situation, things are fast-paced. What I really appreciated was the responsiveness of the Mitacs Enterprise team to meet our timelines and needs.”

With a variety of talented and skilled labour available, participating in experiential learning is a great way for startups to not only gain expert opinion, but collaborate with future innovative leaders. If you are interested in participating in the Mitacs Enterprise Program, please contact Dane Svenson, Marketing and Communications Coordinator at 604-822-9974 or dsvenson@mitacs.ca. For more information on the OCE Connections program, please contact Roxy Hamilton, Program Manager at 613-726-3420 x 4223 or roxy.hamilton@oce-ontario.org.

Shamini is completing her final year at the University of Toronto Mississauga and is pursuing an undergraduate specialist degree in Business Administration and a major in Communication, Culture & Information Technology. Shamini is joining the RIC team this summer as a Communications Intern bringing with her a passion in marketing and various experiences in online marketing.

The RIC blog is designed as a showcase for entrepreneurs and innovation. Our guest bloggers provide a wealth of information based on their personal and professional experiences. Visit Altitude Accelerator for more information on how RIC can accelerate your ideas to market.

The post What Is Experiential Learning and How Can Your Business Benefit From It? appeared first on Altitude Accelerator.

From startups to multinational corporations, the core of success hinges on building a team with the right people for a growing business. As startup entrepreneurs soon learn, it’s difficult to find and fund committed employees in the cash-strapped and changing work environment of a startup.

Here are 3 of the most common startup hiring challenges:

Embracing the startup structure. Startups are at best tempests at sea. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. There is flux of all kinds – good and bad. Most recruits with experience in established enterprise environments may have a difficult time adapting to the ever-changing environment of a startup. New employees often feel discouraged if they get “lost in the mix” and are not “given” formal work to be productive.

Your talent needs change if the business pivots. Spending valuable resources such as time and money to hire and integrate an employee, only to learn the very specific skill-set may not match your changing needs can be a real setback. This is why startup founders must have a long-term vision and plan ahead.

Turnover. You may discover that a certain position in your company has a lot of turnover. With many companies offering flexible work hours and virtual mobile work options, candidates don’t put in the same commitment that is required for a particular position which is problematic for any size business but could be a real drain on a resource-strapped startup.
There are creative ways to address these issues. A potential solution for attracting a pool of talented employees at reasonable cost is by establishing an “Earn While You Learn” program at your company. Windsor, Ontario based Valiant Machine & Tool Inc. offers an “earn-while-you-learn” program that provides training and pay for its students. At $12 an hour, students learn “operating, welding, robot programming and other metalworking skills”. Within four years of its creation, the program has become one of the most sought-after substitutes for conventional apprenticeship programs.

Perhaps the best part about this program is that it helps Valiant maintain a competitive workforce by retaining 95% of its students upon graduation. The “earn-while-you-learn” model was originally considered due to a lack in Valiant’s own workforce. Since the foundation of the program in 2008, all 80 students that were initially enrolled in the apprenticeship are now working for Valiant.

By utilizing a similar program in your startup, you not only train your potential employees but give them the skills needed to adapt to the work culture of your evolving business. Are you a techie and new to this talent recruitment arena? Take advantage of the expertise of mentors at virtual incubators and innovation centres like the Altitude Accelerator where Entrepreneurs-in-Residence and Volunteer Advisors provide extensive knowledge as well as access to resources in order to help your startup. Check out finding talent section in RIC’s website for a great place to start working with paid and unpaid interns right here in the Region of Peel.

Here are some resources to help you successfully build a startup team:
•   “Hiring for Attitude”, a book that details how to hire smart.
•   Shane Snow shares tips on hiring techies at FastCompany.
•   Eric Ries’ groundbreaking book, “The Lean Startup” is a must-read for all entrepreneurs.

Shanza is a Social Media Intern at Altitude Accelerator. Pursuing two undergraduate majors in anthropology and professional writing at the University of Toronto Mississauga, Shanza is also a co-editor and content writer at the Digital Enterprise Management Society. She hopes to make her mark as a Social Media Consultant.

The RIC blog is designed as a showcase for entrepreneurs and innovation. Our guest bloggers provide a wealth of information based on their personal and professional experiences. Visit Altitude Accelerator for more information on how RIC can accelerate your ideas to market.

The post Smart Recruitment: Training And Building Your Future Workforce appeared first on Altitude Accelerator.

Shopify is growing fast.

With a new office and over 100 employees, the ecommerce software company founded by Tobias Lütke in 2006 has become the premier place to work in Ottawa, and maybe even in all of Canada.

And they’re hiring.

The first Shopify store did what it was supposed to, and it did it well. After seeing its success, the team realized that they could provide this tool to others, and help them sell their products online. Shopify stands for simplicity, elegance, and common sense, and hopes to infuse those qualities in everything they do.

Today, over 17,000 active online stores in 80 countries are powered by Shopify. 

In October 2011, Shopify closed a $15 million Series B round from Bessemer Venture Partners, FirstMark Capital, Felicis Ventures, and Georgian Partners. This was 10 months after closing a $7 million Series A round in 2010.

Reposted from Techvibes

The RIC blog is designed as a showcase for entrepreneurs and innovation. Our guest bloggers provide a wealth of information based on their personal experiences. Visit Altitude Accelerator for more information on how RIC can accelerate your ideas to market.

The post Check Out Life at One of Canada’s Hottest Startups appeared first on Altitude Accelerator.