Hootsuite’s Stretch Program: The Inside Scoop
Admit it: Sometimes you wonder what it would be like to work in a completely different role. So if you had the chance to scratch that itch and try working in another department, which would it be? Product development? Sales operations? Marketing? Something else?
At Hootsuite, we know that our Owls (as we affectionately refer to our employees) are just as curious as you are. That’s why every year, departments across Hootsuite post opportunities for Owls to spread their wings, develop new skills, and experience life in different parts of the business. We call it the Stretch Program.
How does the program work?
Our Stretch Program runs twice a year. Participating Owls spend 20% of their time over a three-month period with another team to learn new skills and find out what kinds of projects they love (or don’t love). This helps them try out new roles and teams while maintaining their current role, so they can gauge how a career change might suit them.
We talked to a few different people who have been through the program and asked them what impact the Stretch Program has had on their career and what they have learned from it.
“Taking part in the Stretch Program with our Social Media team was an amazing experience! It opened doors for me to interact with parts of Hootsuite that I would never normally cross paths with and has allowed me to develop my own skills when it comes to project management.
With these new skills, it has led to me taking the lead on more projects on my own team and helped set me up to look into new career opportunities across Hootsuite.”
— Ezra Poplove, Senior Inbound Account Executive
“The Stretch Program was an amazing experience which allowed me to test the waters in a part of the business where I had an interest in and eventually, I was able to move into it. Throughout the months of Stretch, I was able to learn what happens behind the scenes in the product world: what types of questions are asked, what we need to take into consideration to make decisions, how we prioritize, what’s our business strategy, etc. This was a great opportunity to build relationships with people I wouldn’t normally work with, including our Senior Director of Product Management, Esteban Contreras, who was a great mentor and very generous with his time during this partnership.”
— Bruna Barbosa, Senior Product Manager
“I work in the Support team as a Tier 2 Specialist and took part in the Stretch Program with the Product team. It was super interesting and insightful! This experience allowed me to really see what happens “behind the scenes” when a new feature is built, from the initial idea and discovery initiatives to the final release to users. I have been not just a spectator in this project, but an active part, which helped me develop new skills that I normally wouldn’t need or use in my regular role. It is very exciting to see how different teams interact and coordinate in order to create something new for our customers. After this program, I realized that it is definitely an area I’d love to explore deeper in the future!”
— Nadia Rita Dell’Oca, Tier 2 Specialist
Creating opportunities for our employees to learn and add meaningful experiences to their tool belt is the cornerstone of the culture at Hootsuite. If you want to learn more about career opportunities with us, we’d love to hear from you!
