Blog // Toronto Coworking

Starting Out With Startups

Kate Kelleher

Starting Out With Startups: Interns Share Their Coworking Experience

Project Spaces is a hub for collaboration and community, whether you’re a thriving entrepreneur with a growing business or a student looking for their first job.

Every summer, we’re happy to welcome interns at both King West and Camden Street locations. Students come from schools across the country - and as far as Europe - to work and learn alongside our team and as part of the diverse companies that call Project Spaces home.

I’m Kate Kelleher, and I’m a second year Commerce student at Dalhousie University. I’ve been working as an intern with Project Spaces. I spent the past month working closely with the team at Camden Street, meeting local startups, and learning more about Toronto’s tech and entrepreneurial culture.

The startup life is a lot different from other jobs. Shared workspace, flexibility, and inconsistency can be a big departure from other roles in corporate environments or customer service. To find out how interns were weathering the highs and lows of the startup ecosystem, I sat down with other students working out of our shared offices to hear about their summer jobs and first experience with coworking.

Gloria Xu working with the OnCall Health team.

What are you studying and what was your role this summer? How was working with entrepreneurs?

Gloria Xu: I’m going into 4th year at University of Western Ontario studying business. I’m a Business Development intern at OnCall Health. My experience has been great! Interning at a startup is very different - you never know what pace the day will have. You really learn about accountability and being responsible for your own autonomy.

Christian Vit: I am going into 4th year studying commerce at the Smith School of Business. My first two years were general and I am now specializing in the public accounting stream which is meant for students to get their CPA. You get exposed to so many cool startups and passionate entrepreneurs in coworking. I really developed my problem solving skills - now I can easily have someone come to me and multitask to handle the situation.

Abbey Coholic: I’m going to Ivey School of Business at Western University. This summer I’ve been an intern at Serind Labs - it has been extremely fulfilling. Not only have I been exposed to the startup and technology industry, but I have also had the opportunity to try my hand at marketing, human resources, operations, accounting and any other traditional department you can think of! The small team size has allowed for total ownership of initiatives and the ability to see your efforts have an impact in the day to day.

Jon Smith: I’m working on my Masters of Computer Science at St. Francis Xavier University. I started my internship in May with the Rep.AI team. I was interested in working at a small company. 

A larger company’s project may be more established, but a small company dynamic makes for a more interesting and fun work environment.

Abdul Saad: I am studying business at Western University. My experience as an intern has been very informative. I work with OnCall Health which is a virtual care platform. The goal of the company is to improve access to health care. I help in aspects of business development, helping OnCall grow, launching market campaigns, and helping with sales.

What’s the biggest difference between learning on the job and learning in school?

Gloria: You’re a bit on your own at first and have to get into the flow of everything. Something I learned a lot about was data analytics. At school we have to build everything from excel models, but here I was exposed to Google Analytics which are less intimidating to work with and helpful for marketing. We can see how many people go to our website and how long people are on our website for. For example, we found out people were leaving our website after 10 seconds. We realized there was an issue with our chat bubble in the corner. It was great to have actionable user insights and make improvements right then.

Christian: At school you learn theory, learn from professors, people you look up to, and focus on the task at hand, but the beauty of working at Project Spaces is that I have an all-encompassing role. You don’t just manage the front desk, you manage relationships and develop actual lasting connections. The people I meet here also vary a lot. I’m not just collaborating with other commerce students, because there are people with different backgrounds, cultures, ideas, and careers.

Abbey: No answers in the back of the textbook! Haha. There is definitely a HUGE difference. School teaches you to think, to reason, to see the bigger picture... but because every company is run differently, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to the work you will be asked to do. The best thing you can learn from school is how to think on your feet. There are so many different variables that come into play in the workforce and the quicker you come to understand how those impact the everyday of your organization, the faster you will become equipped to take on your job.

Jon: Consequences. In school there are no consequences other than you may have to be in school for longer. When you are working, there is stronger motivation to learn accurately and efficiently because there is a lot more at stake and everything is moving at a fast pace. Also in a job environment, you have responsibilities that affect others and the company, whereas in a school environment your responsibilities are more to yourself.

Abdul: I would say learning on the job is more hands on, more useful and practical … whereas I am not the biggest fan of school. With a startup, it’s very interesting because in a way everyone is learning. The biggest win is how much control you have; if you want to start a project you can. The big challenge is that there isn’t really a blueprint to follow.

Kate Kelleher working from the lounge at Project Spaces Camden Street.

Were you familiar with coworking before starting at Project Spaces? Would you recommend it to new graduates?

Gloria: I knew a little because there is Propel at Western which is a space for student entrepreneurs.  I would recommend it, especially because a lot of students are starting to get into entrepreneurship. Coffee shops and homes are not sustainable! I would recommend it to graduates that aren’t in the corporate world as it offers a network, not only a physical place but a virtual place to connect and find opportunities. You could easily pick up freelance jobs, especially in journalism or tech.

Christian: Depending on the graduates’ focus - why not coworking? It’s affordable, there’s no overhead and it’s perfect for people with ideas, any entrepreneurial ideas. I value learning and you learn so much in a coworking environment.

Abbey: I was aware of coworking before I came in. One of my relatives had their own space for a while! If you are someone who works best by feeding off the energy of those around you, I think you would excel in a coworking space. It’s a very passionate and positive work environment. 

As a graduate starting your career, coworking exposes you to a variety of industries and companies, allowing you to get a better sense of direction, and it helps you develop your professional network at an expedited pace.

Jon: No, I had no experience with it. The closest thing is back at Acadia, I used to work for a software company which had offices with four other companies on the top floor of a building, but we never really interacted. This is inherently social. I would definitely recommend coworking to graduates who have a reason to be here because next thing you know, you have a startup idea, you’re in conversation with others, bouncing ideas, networking and making friends.

Abdul: To be honest, no! I had not heard about it. Yes, I would recommend coworking! It’s really good for building connections as a startup and meeting new people. It allows people to collaborate and work with people in different industries.

Christian Vit and Jon Smith chatting with members at a Project Spaces event.

Whether you’re looking for an internship with a Toronto startup or hoping to start your own new venture, Project Spaces shared office spaces could be your perfect launchpad.

My advice after working with the team? Just come by, say hi, and meet people! You never know where a conversation might lead.

As Abbey notes, “My teammates and other members in the space are wonderful. No person is ever too busy to lend a hand. When you work with people who are so driven by the mission of their organization, you can’t help but feel the same.”

Thank you 🙌
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What is Project Spaces?

Founder-friendly coworking in downtown Toronto for entrepreneurs and digital nomads. We create original workspaces, fill them with relentless entrepreneurs, and watch the magic happen. Learn more

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