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Thursday, August 4, 2022
By: Krista Henry (she/her)
When it comes to attracting emerging tech talent, Bell Media has found a way to build a talent community to help co-op students and new graduate students explore new media landscapes.
As a leading content creator in Canada, Bell Media looks for the best tech talent for their television, radio, out of home and digital media departments. The organization hires co-op students to help build their talent pipeline in roles such as digital monetization coordinator and technical account coordinator.
Amanda Chin-Loy
Senior manager, digital monetization and business operations at Bell Media
One of the key roles for which Bell needs emerging talent is digital advertising monetization.
“Digital Monetization supports the planning, implementation and sales of display and video ads on Bell Media’s premium sites, apps, connected TV, and other emerging platforms,” says Amanda Chin-Loy, senior manager, digital monetization and business operations at Bell Media.
“Our team manages a multitude of ad sales opportunities for our clients. As such, we’re looking for individuals with strong curiosity, problem solving and organization skills.”
According to Chin-Loy co-op students and new graduates bring a fresh perspective to their work. The organization typically hires co-op students for eight months so that they can properly train students in the variety of digital systems they will need to learn.
Finding potential new hires
Bell looks to the University of Waterloo to find potential new hires. One such new hire is their former
co-op student Brandon Lo (MACC’ 2015) who worked as a technical account coordinator within Ad Operations. Today, Lo works in a full-time role as a Technical Account Manager with Bell.
“I oversaw troubleshooting and providing quality assurance for advertisements on our largest digital networks such as CTV and TSN. It was different than my other co-op experiences,” says Lo.
“There was a huge learning curve because I did not have any prior experience in Ad Operations. The job requires high technical skill and as a co-op student, you only have an 8-month time frame to learn and make an impact. I used the first few months to train, ask questions, learn more about the industry, and get up to speed with the different technology and tools that we use.”
Transitioning into a full-time role was an easy decision for Lo who described his co-op experience with Bell as his favourite. He found the digital marketing and advertising media industry to be innovative with consistent new projects to tackle.
“There is a certain level of excitement to the job because there is no set schedule to follow, there are new tasks to work on every day and the company culture is good,” Lo adds.
Brandon Lo
Technical Account Manager at Bell Media
Moving to digital
Katrina Santos
Associate director for technical project management at Bell Media
While media has been making the move to digital for over a decade, it is an industry that is constantly evolving. To thrive in the industry, individuals need to have a good understanding of several technologies including websites, email, social media, mobile devices and video.
“The digital industry is growing quickly with everything moving to and wanting to become more digital,” says Katrina Santos, associate Director for technical project management at Bell Media. “If you want to be a continuous learner, this is the best place to be.”
Santos’ department focuses on the technical implementation of ad opportunities working with ad server vendors and ensuring monetization requirements are implemented correctly on Bell Media’s sites and apps.
According to Santos, the digital advertising industry is not an area typically taught in schools and relies on the extensive training that Bell Media provides to co-op students.
We have a great team, which is one of the reasons people stay with us. Bell equips you with the knowledge you need and gives you the flexibility to work independently or within a group. Our people take the time to share knowledge.
- KATRINA SANTOS, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR TECHNICAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT
AT BELL MEDIA
Bell Media is always looking for new talent to bring into the organization including co-op students or new graduates interested in exploring the digital media landscape.
Learn more about student and graduate opportunities at Bell Media.