18 students win paid internships in digital creation as part of the ARRISTAGE competition (3rd edition)

The results of the third edition: a resounding success

This third edition was a resounding success, bringing together:

• 116 participating students

• 18 interns recruited from:

  • 2 CEGEPs: Collège de Bois-de-Boulogne and Cégep Limoilou

  • 4 universities: École NAD-UQAC, UQAT, Concordia University, and UQÀM

• 12 participating studios: 3Dverse, 3Mind Games, Aeon Star Interactive, Baobab Games, Carcajou Games, Les jeux Fineallday inc., Flyos, Folklore Games, PlayTogether Studio, Unstandard Studio, SCINTILLA, and Studio Transversal.

Following their internships, some students had the unique opportunity to be offered a permanent position at their studio. This was the case for Philippe Gélinas, a student in the DEC program in 3D Animation and Image Synthesis at Cégep Limoilou, who was hired as a 3D animator at Unstandard Studio.

For companies, recruiting interns is an opportunity to welcome new ideas, bring in skilled and passionate workers, and actively participate in training the next generation.

“I think it's important to get involved in training young people to share knowledge and accelerate the professionalization of the next generation once they graduate,” explains Charles Stéphane Roy, CEO and co-founder of SCINTILLA, which welcomed Roseline Yoshy, an intern in Immersive Digital Experience Design.

Financial assistance for the smallest studios

In order to support higher education institutions and emerging studios, SYNTHÈSE would like to thank La Caisse Desjardins de la Culture, which made a generous contribution of $2,500 to Audrey Langlois, a third-year student pursuing a bachelor's degree in video game creation, with a concentration in software integration at UQAT, enabling her to complete an 8-week paid internship at the Carcajou Games studio as a technical designer.

“We are proud to support initiatives that equip tomorrow's professionals working in digital creation, such as the ARRISTAGE competition. Congratulations, Audrey! May this experience provide you with the keys you need to embark on your professional life,” said Marie-Christine Cojocaru, Executive Director of the Caisse Desjardins de la Culture.

SYNTHÈSE would also like to thank the NAD-UQAC School, which generously offered a diversity scholarship to William Pak, a bachelor's student in Video Game Creation, Art Profile. With this financial assistance, William was able to obtain an internship as a 3D Artist at Baobab Games.

A successful immersion: positive feedback from participants

According to the students, this first immersion into the world of work was very revealing for their future career paths. Some were able to answer questions, others met industry talents. But above all, they all had a wonderful opportunity to dive into rewarding and stimulating projects, while improving their skills.

"The impact of an internship on my career path has allowed me to prepare for the future, answer questions I've had for a long time, and address my concerns. So now I feel 50 times more ready to embark on a career in the industry, for real!" says Léonie Jean, a bachelor's student in 3D creation, specializing in cinema at the NAD-UQAC School and an intern at 3Mind Games as an Environment Artist.

For supervisors, welcoming interns means fresh perspectives and new ideas. For Audrey Poulin, supervisor at Folklore Games, welcoming interns is essential to workforce development: “It's important to get involved in training young professionals to help them get a foot in the door of the industry, but also so that they can see game production as a whole. Then they will be the next generation, and eventually they too will get involved in training other young people who are entering the industry.”

A consolation prize for students who have not found an internship

If they didn't get an internship, the students who took part had the chance to get some coaching through a program called Profolio. Led by industry professionals, Profolio sessions are an initiative of SYNTHÈSE that provides tailored advice to improve the portfolios of students who did not secure an internship. Students had approximately one hour to present their portfolios and receive advice from an expert.

Building on its success, the Profolio experience ran from September 23 to October 4, 2024, with a total of eight online sessions bringing together around 30 students and five industry professionals.

In addition to the Profolio session, participants enjoyed early access to EXPERTS, our exclusive online learning platform for digital creation professionals. This access will allow them to develop and enrich their skills in creation, design, management, or programming through highly informative courses created in partnership with experts and educational institutions.