Eighteen students earned a paid traineeship in digital creation thanks to the ARRISTAGE contest

Montréal, September 22, 2022 – The inaugural edition of the ARRISTAGE contest, devised by SYNTHÈSE, enabled eighteen students from across Québec to undertake a paid traineeship in digital creation. 2D artists, gaming designers, 3D animators… these future talents had an opportunity to dive into the heart of the digital-production job market as part of a series of 4 to 12-week paid traineeships in June, July, and August 2022.

Achieving satisfaction and meeting needs: the hallmarks of a successful first edition

The purpose of the ARRISTAGE contest is to enable students to acquaint themselves with the recruitment process in the digital-creation sector and develop their artistic and technical skills in 2D-3D creation, design, post-production, and new media. The first ARRISTAGE contest cohort was a great success with:

  • 101 students taking part from:
    • 5 CEGEPs: Cégep de Limoilou, Cégep de Matane, Cégep du Vieux Montréal, Collège de Bois-de-Boulogne, and Collège Montmorency
    • 4 universities: École NAD-UQAC, Université de Montréal, Université Laval, and UQAT
  • 18 trainees were recruited by 11 studios: 3dverse, Bebop Games, Cadabra, Carcajou, DPT., Folklore Games, Super Splendide, Hybride-Ubisoft, Pigeon Mayonnaise, RageCure Games, and Wallrus

Against a backdrop of workforce shortage in the digital-creation industry, both students and companies were able to benefit from these traineeships. What’s more, some trainees have extended their work stint as part of work-study programs, thereby allowing companies to reap longer-term benefits from the young talent they have trained on their own production pipeline.

“ARRIMAGE helps us meet our workforce needs and find the right job candidates based on their expertise. We had access to a pool of top candidates who are able to meet our needs. What a great help this program is!” stated Jean-François Malouin, President and Creative Director at Super Splendide, who hired three students as part of a work-study program as well as a graduate on a full-time basis.

Financial support for smaller studios

“Through ARRISTAGE, we aimed to support higher-education institutions and companies in implementing industry-structuring traineeships, starting in the second year of college or university studies. By means of this pilot project, SYNTHÈSE also wished to provide financial assistance to smaller studios (employing 20 people or fewer) to help them pay their trainees,” points out Anne Le Bouyonnec, Director, Skills and Careers, and Project Manager for ARRIMAGE. SYNTHÈSE thanks its partners for providing financial support to three Québec studios:

  • La Guilde du Jeu vidéo du Québec offered financial assistance to Ariane Berland, a Cégep du Vieux Montréal student in 3D animation and imaging techniques for her traineeship with Carcajou
  • The Québec Film and Television Council (QFTC) supported the hiring of Sébastien Beffort, an undergraduate student in the animation arts and science program at Université Laval for his traineeship with Super Splendide
  • Xn Québec funded Mathieu Deblois’s traineeship with ; he is a graduate student in digital arts at École NAD-UQAC

An enriching personal and professional experience: positive feedback from participants

For 13 weeks, Sébastien Latour was a trainee at RageCure Games as a 2D artist. He was very satisfied with this on-the-job training opportunity, not only for the outstanding staff-management practices within a “great tightly knit team,” but also because it was an invaluable learning experience for him. “Throughout my traineeship, I honed my 2D-illustration and set-design skills in Photoshop and Blender with constructive feedback from the art director,” he said, ready to take on new professional challenges.

Vincent Presseau, a supervisor at Carcajou Games, found the experience with his trainees tremendously positive: “I was blown away by the quality of the students! A truly professional bunch – I’d hire a dozen or more if I could!”

Applying learning to the workplace thanks to the ARRIMAGE program

The ARRISTAGE contest is at the core of ARRIMAGE, a program set up last May by SYNTHÈSE to promote application of learning in the workplace as well as students’ skill-development. The ARRIMAGE program was developed around:

  • A traineeship contest, namely, ARRISTAGE
  • The creation of a traineeship package for companies
  • Networking activities linking educational institutions and companies
  • The establishment of an educational committee

Toward the second edition of the ARRISTAGE contest

Given the success of the first edition, SYNTHÈSE has begun to organize a second edition of the contest while refining the recruitment process for students and companies. A second cohort is expected to be unveiled in February for summer 2023 traineeships.

To find out more about the ARRIMAGE program and the contest, visit polesynthese.com/fr/arrimage/.