Betting on Waterloo co-op students has big wins for Score Media and Gaming Inc.
By: Krista Henry (she/her)
When it comes to a clear win in the talent arena, Score Media and Gaming (theScore) is ahead of the game.
By hiring Waterloo co-op students, the company brings in fresh digital talent to help them stay on top.
Over the last several years, theScore has rapidly grown to be a leader in digital sports media and online gaming with their in-house mobile products. The company hires talent from Waterloo to innovate, bring new ideas and provide insights into the needs of the next generation of sporting fans.
“We’ve been hiring co-op students for quite a while, but in the last year we’ve tripled the co-op opportunities available,” says Michelle Donaghy (she/her), senior early talent specialist at theScore. “We want to provide students with the skills and experience for a future work term or full-time opportunity with us. This is part of what we call our farming framework.” Co-op roles at theScore include software developer, UX researcher, mobile developer, data analyst and product manager.
In Donaghy’s experience, talent from Waterloo is ideal for technical positions at the company. Co-op students bring valuable technical skills, up-to-date academic knowledge and valuable experience to the organization.
Waterloo students dive into the role, allowing them to make the most of the experience and work on projects like a full-time team member. We really see the benefits for both the manager/mentor and for the student. We have several Waterloo alumni hiring managers that understand the co-op process and the quality of learning students bring.
TheScore is a data-driven company and looks for that drive in all candidates, regardless of the role. When hiring emerging talent, they look for candidates with excellent communication skills, a strong sense of curiosity, advanced problem-solving skills, and a willingness to learn. On the tech side, skills such as programming, code fluency and code architecture are stand out qualities of many Waterloo co-op students.
Empowering students to solve real problems
To help bring fresh perspectives and ideas to their organization, theScore has students work on themed term projects. These projects are geared towards key areas of business growth and development.
“Each term, students voluntarily sign up to work in teams to solve a problem or create a new feature for a department,” says Donaghy. “For example, this past term, the theme was UX design and research. Our co-op students presented their findings and ideas to our senior leadership team, which provides them an opportunity to showcase their talent and network with senior leadership and one another.”
At theScore, the team empowers students in a variety of ways including takeovers of the company’s careers Instagram channel. The opportunity gives theScore’s followers a transparent lens into the company culture and showcases the co-op student’s experience working at theScore.
The company also pairs students with members of the talent acquisition team to help them make the most of their resumes and LinkedIn profiles. Co-op students also play a vital role in giving hiring managers and future leaders at the organization the opportunity to gain mentorship experiences. Staff and hiring managers work with students across various departments, where they train students and connect with them to get their feedback and ideas to make a real impact on products.
“Whether they return to us or explore another opportunity, we want to help students in their career journey,” says Donaghy. “We integrate them into our organization from day one. They do meaningful work, take part in volunteering opportunities alongside our team members and see the growth of their projects over time. For us, they bring in a new and diverse perspective to the team which helps us evolve with the knowledge they share.”
In June 2023, theScore welcomed three former Waterloo co-op students into full-time roles at the company. “The students we’ve had are awesome!” says Donaghy. “I’m excited to see them come in each term and to see them come back. It’s rewarding working with them.”
