DORIS WANG
News Writer

“It’s more than just a game. It’s business.” That’s the motto for this year’s Nestea: The Recruit challenge, which boasts a prize of a year’s tuition and a paid summer internship at Coca-Cola Ltd. or one of their partner marketing agencies.

For Leah Hoffarth, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“Having the internship at Coca-Cola is huge on your resumé,” she said. “To work for a corporative business would be amazing.”

The Recruit is modeled after the hit show The Apprentice. The contest requires students to register in a team of three and compete against 23 other teams from eight universities across Canada. Each team will compete in three rounds challenging their marketing abilities. Challenges will provide students with hands-on experience in different fields of marketing including public relations, creative concept development and social media marketing.

Three teams from each university are selected by Nestea to compete.

All members of Hoffarth’s team, the Prairie Rangers, are in their final year and she hopes that experience and variety of skills will give them an advantage in the competition.

“I’m very competitive,” she said. “My teammate Sarah Pichler is an expert at social media while Eric Babin is very professional and organized.”

Another U of S team, The Closers, hopes that their personalities and their technological skills will help them throughout the competition.

“We are all very outgoing and charismatic,” says Closers member Jesse Maerz.

The third team, The Product Marketing Strategists, consists of Kari Paulsen, Bailey Chomyshen and Meahgan Sweet. They are taking a very eager approach to the current challenge, thanking their supporters via their Facebook page.

“Amazing support people! Keep it up, we know the kids love your support!” they announced — the kids being the Saskatchewan Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Currently, the teams are challenged to rally and raise money for different children’s charities.

Hoffarth says she has encountered some difficulties in bringing awareness to her team’s charity and in getting the community involved in fundraising. But she believes that her team’s passion and drive will help them succeed.

“We are very approachable and dedicated people,” says Hoffarth of the Prairie Rangers.

A 24-hour Text-A- Thon will take place next weekend as a part of Prairie Rangers’ fundraising.

Maerz feels that his team has gained a lot of knowledge from the first round.

“We have learned what is acceptable in a large organization and what is looked down upon,” he said. “It has improved all of our public speaking abilities and made us realize that anything is possible.”

Each challenge will be judged by a panel of three to four judges which may include members of Contest Administrator, Coca-Cola Bottling Company, contest sponsors or the sponsors’ customers.