Mattamy Homes builds emerging talent through co-op
By: Krista Henry (she/her)
The company hires co-op students as part of its long-term talent strategy.
At Mattamy Homes, co-op students are a benchmark for emerging talent in the real estate development industry. The company empowers students to create an impact.
As the largest privately owned home builder in North America, Mattamy Homes hires multiple students each term to help meet strategic business objectives. The company hires students across a variety of business functions including the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) low rise, GTA urban, Alberta and Ottawa. Co-op students typically work for four-and-eight-month work terms to assist projects. Mattamy often hires exceptional Waterloo co-op students into full-time positions once they graduate.
Flora Tang (BES ‘17) (she/they), land development manager at Mattamy Homes
Flora Tang (BES ’17) (she/they) is a land development manager at Mattamy Homes. As a former Waterloo co-op student, Tang sees the value of being able to try out potential emerging talent like students.
“Having co-op students gives us a benchmark on the level of talent coming into the organization, says Tang.”
“If we see students operating at a certain level, then we can compare them to juniors or co-ordinators we're hiring full-time. We get to see which students could be a possible long-term fit with us.”
At Mattamy Homes, co-op students work in areas such as land development, renewables, finance and business analytics. Within these teams, Waterloo co-op students work on a variety of tasks like landscape drawings, planning reports, reading and interpreting materials used for submissions, reviewing site plans, sustainability reporting and more.
Mehr Hazari (BES ’17) (she/her) is also a former co-op student who now works full-time at Mattamy Homes as a land development manager. She has first-hand experience with the impact students can make when it comes to driving projects forward.
Mehr Hazari (BES ‘17) (she/her), land development manager at Mattamy Homes
When I was a co-op student, I had more responsibility at Mattamy than any other organization I worked for. I supported the team that designed a 30-plus unit townhouse condo building. Today, families are living in those houses, raising their children and growing old there.
Finding quality talent at Waterloo
Mattamy Homes has found success in hiring from Waterloo’s co-op program. According to Tim Schnarr (BASc ’12) (he/him), director of development, GTA urban division, the Waterloo co-op system produces quality students. The wide range of programs at Waterloo gives the company the ability to choose from multiple talent pools.
Tim Schnarr (he/him), director of development at Mattamy Homes
We look at the assets of new students coming in and try to leverage those strengths. We do our best to be flexible and provide students with insights in the areas they’re passionate about. Students are still in a world of learning and coming in, they pick up tasks quickly, learn new things and bring fresh perspectives to the work we do.
When hiring, Mattamy Homes looks for students who are adaptable, engaged problem solvers and passionate about a career in the industry. The company provides an onboarding program to help set students up for success.
“We provide the learning and guidance to set our students up for success, and empower them to take what they’ve learned, connect the dots and put concepts together,” says Hazari.
Schnarr has mentored many co-op students throughout the years and has seen how impressive students can be.
“Over the winter we had a Waterloo student working virtually for us and when his direct manager was away, he stepped in and ran a consulting team meeting for us,” says Schnarr. “He had learned enough over the four months to fully step in and fill that role. A role that lots of new hires aren’t ready to fill.”
Mattamy plans to continue nurturing the next generation of talent in their industry by hiring Waterloo co-op students.