Talent MATCH generated awareness amongst museums, arts, tourism, culture, and hospitality (MATCH) organizations about hiring students by offering resources and info sessions to educate employers on funding, connecting with schools, and attracting students. Resources were also developed for students in addition to 1-on-1 sessions with a Career Coach.
Project Information
Partner(s): ACE-WIL, the BC Alliance for Arts + Culture, the BC Museums Association, and go2HR
Status: Complete
Project Dates: February 1, 2021 — December 31, 2022
Allison Benner
adirectorcareer@uvic.ca
Project Contributors:
Debby Reis (Project Manager), Alana Hibbert (Career Coach), Miranda Maslany (Nonprofit Career Coordinator, Talent 4 Non-Profits)
Funder:
Ministry of Advanced Education & Skills Training
Talent MATCH was primarily an awareness campaign with communication support from the three partner organizations being key to its success. The BC Museums Association, the BC Alliance for Arts + Culture, and go2HR regularly shared content and resources produced by the Talent MATCH team in their newsletters, social media, and through networking opportunities to reach organizations across BC. They were also instrumental in connecting us with additional umbrella organizations who also shared content, widening the project’s reach. Talent MATCH supported employers from museums, arts, tourism, culture, and hospitality (MATCH) organizations to learn more about accessing student talent through co-ops and other forms of WIL. In Phase 2 of the Program’s funding, the program expanded to support students with Talent MATCH for Students and to non-profit organizations and students exploring work in non-profits with Talent 4 Non-Profits.
The links below are a sampling of the resources developed, as well as the presentations made during the run of the Program.
Talent MATCH at ACE-WIL Town Hall
In October 2022, the Talent MATCH and Talent 4 Non-Profits teams shared an overview of the Program, as well as research findings and observations discovered during the run of the project at an ACE-WIL Town Hall, presented by BC Campus. The presentation provides an overview of the Program and its outputs, as well as recommendations to co-op and WIL coordinators across BC.
Spark: Students on Staff!
Featuring Henry John, a student who worked at that Kaatza Station Museum & Archives, this video was used to bring awareness to employers to the types of work students are capable of. Henry shares how he archived 300 boxes of donated materials, and then went on to write grants and conduct outreach on behalf of the museum.
Video: What WIL Can Do for You
Created in collaboration with the Talent Forward project, this video gives a brief overview of what WIL is and how it can support organizations generally. The video is currently (as of January 2023) pinned to the top of ACE-WIL’s YouTube channel, Facebook page, and website. Video by Rosanna Dollar. Narrated by Jess Amy Shead. Music by Kevin MacLeod. For further credits, visit the YouTube page.
Spark: Students on Staff!
Featuring Darpan Malhi, a student who worked at the Delta Hospital Foundation, this video was used to bring awareness to employers to the types of work students are capable of. Darpan shares how she contributed to fundraising efforts to raise over $257,000.
Research Project with Marketing Data Strategy Specialist, Majid Khory
Talent MATCH engaged an outside marketing data specialist, Majid Khoury, who, with his team oversaw a qualitative research project using one-on-one interviews to determine what resources students and employers in MATCH and non-profits were looking for, and to identify other issues we could focus on to support these sectors. Interview participants were recruited primarily through Talent MATCH and Talent 4 Non-Profits clients that represented organizations from across MATCH (museums, arts, tourism, culture, and hospitality) sectors as well as non-profits more generally (social issues, environmental focus etc). We put out calls for participants through the partner organizations’ newsletters and, for the student interviews, through WIL coordinators.
Selected Resources
Throughout the run of the Program, resources were developed prior to the above mentioned research, as well as ones that were developed in response to the findings. Links to all resources can be found on the Talent MATCH, Talent MATCH for Students, and Talent 4 Non-Profits webpages and in ACE-WIL’s Resource Hub. These are a selection of those resources.
For Employers:
Selected Webinars
In addition to resources, Talent MATCH, Talent MATCH for Students, and Talent 4 Non-Profits hosted a series of webinars, or participated in webinars where information about the programs was presented. Many of the webinars were focused on funding programs available to employers. Where possible, these were recorded and are available on the Program webpages and the ACE-WIL Resource Hub. (Note that information presented in these webinars may be date sensitive. Employers are encouraged to check funders’ websites for the most up-to-date information.)
- Propel: A New Wage Subsidy for Tourism & Hospitality Organizations
- Tourism HR Canada‘s, Propel supports the tourism and hospitality sector with this student wage subsidy.
- Canadian Museums Association’s Young Canada Works Programs
- The Canadian Museums Association delivers two of four Young Canada Works Programs—YCW in Heritage Organizations (YCW-HO) and YCW at Building Careers in Heritage (YCW-BCH).
- Canada Summer Jobs
- Service Canada’s Canada Summer Jobs program supports non-profits, small businesses, and public sector employers with wage subsidies for youth aged 15 to 30.
- Hiring with EDI in Mind: A Webinar & Resources
- Highlighting barriers employers and student-employees face, and the resources built as a response—including tips on inclusive job postings, accessibility, power dynamics, and more.
Conferences
Talent MATCH attended the following conferences in 2022, where we were able to network, host information tables, and/or present information on the Program.
- BC Tourism and Hospitality Conference
- Pacific Contact: Performing Arts Conference
- ECO Impact 2022
- Royal Roads Career Day
- Arts BC Conference
- Volunteer BC Conference
- Joint BC Museums Association & Heritage BC Conference
- Vantage Point’s BOSS Conference
Sample Ads from Student Media Campaign
In the fall semester of 2022, Talent MATCH for Students ran a media campaign in student newspapers that included both print and digital ads directing students to the resources created for them. These were published in The Ubyssey (UBC), The Peak (SFU), Over the Edge (UNBC), The Martlet (UVic), The Nexus (Camosun College), and The Phoenix (UBC Okanagan). These outlets were chosen in part because of their larger readerships, as well as the potential distribution across different regions in the province. These are samples of those advertisements.
See all sample ads.Sample Ads from Digital Ad Campaign
To raise awareness, Talent 4 Non-Profits managed ad campaigns on LinkedIn and Charity Village, which directed people to ACE-WIL’s Post an Opportunity portal. The Charity Village ad delivered over 10,000 views while the LinkedIn ads were viewed over 53,000 times.
Sample Social Media Posts
As an awareness building campaign, Talent MATCH and Talent 4 Non-Profits relied on the partners, the BC Alliance for Arts + Culture, go2HR, and the BC Museums Association to promote the Program and its resources. The partners shared content developed by the Program team to their social media channels and newsletters. This content was also shared through ACE-WIL’s social media.
In addition to the partners, outreach was conducted to umbrella organizations, asking them to share content and invitations to webinars. These organizations included tourism associations across the province, multiple arts sector newsletters, as well as Vantage Point and other non-profit service organizations. The Program also created its own newsletter targeting people who had interacted with the Program since its inception. This targeted newsletter list consisted of 746 email addresses and averaged a 35% open rate.
Before the completion of the Program, the partner organizations were each provided with a communications resource package, which included a suggested annual timeline of newsletter content as well as “evergreen” content to share on social media. The intent is that the partners will continue to promote hiring students to their members on an ongoing basis.
These are just a few of the images the were (and will continue to be) used on social media and to accompany newsletter pieces to promote resources.
