Co-op is a way for students to gain work experience while they study towards their degree. A co-op student will graduate with 2 years of work experience and it will take one year longer to get the four year degree.
At my school, there are three semesters, each four months long. I either work or I study. Right now, till the end of August, I am studying full time. In September I'll be working again.
Co-op allows students to MAKE and EARN money while they study. You don't have to graduate with $40,000 in debt. I usually make enough money to pay for everything the next term.
In addition, it allows students to APPLY what they've learnt in class. The university gives students their academic training; employers give students professional development and teaches them how to conduct themselves in a business environment.
Lastly, it is FREEDOM LIKE YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE! You can literally work for a different employer every four months. No matter what kind of job you land, it is only four months long and there is no other commitment. It allows students to try out whatever kinds of jobs they want without the fear that they will land a bad job, or a job they don't like. It allows us to experience a wide variety of job types, and companies, and that will give one a better frame of mind when it comes to picking a job after graduation.
It builds your resume because one can often end up working for 5 or 6 different companies before graduation. I can have Microsoft, IBM, Nortel, UPS, and others on my resume! It is GREAT.
Now that I've made you a fan of the co-op program, here is how us co-op students at Waterloo find jobs. Employers register with the university and then give a list of jobs and how many positions are available. These are divided up into 6 to 8 "postings" that last two days each.
A posting is basically just a bunch of jobs. I would log into the system, and then specify the search parameters. As you can see in this screenshot, for the first posting there are 69 jobs available that matches the selections I made.
http://home.cogeco.ca/~johannj/jm/JobMine1.jpg
If you like the job title and company, you can click to get a better view. Here is one job (15 positions to fill) Microsoft is offering in Redmond, Washington:
http://home.cogeco.ca/~johannj/jm/JobMine2.jpg
Their's is excessively cryptic. Here is one from Electronic Arts:
http://home.cogeco.ca/~johannj/jm/JobMine3.jpg
http://home.cogeco.ca/~johannj/jm/JobMine4.jpg
Once you've picked the jobs you want to apply for, you hit the Apply button. You pick a resume that you've uploaded, a cover letter, and other documents you want to put in the "package." Once that is done, you hit APPLY and that is all there is to it!
We can apply up to 24 jobs. I usually go for 6 jobs per posting.
The employers get a list of resumes. They pick the ones they want to interview, and tell the system. The system schedules interviews, on campus. I basically check this system every day or two to see when I have an interview coming up. Once the interview process is done (after the last posting), you RANK all the jobs from 1 to 24, which ones you want best of all. An employer does the same thing. He ranks three or four students he would like most to fill the position.
The system then assigns jobs to students based on this ranking system. If student A picked employer A and gave him a 1, and vice versa, it is basically a guarantee you'll get that job. The system optimizes job selections so that everyone gets the best.
A few days later you come back to the system to find out which job you got. If you're happy, you go down to the co-op office and sign the acceptance form, and that is all there is to it!
Here is another screenshot, which is pretty self-explanatory:
http://home.cogeco.ca/~johannj/jm/JobMine5.jpg
I've applied to six jobs so far. 3 Microsoft ones, and the other three are at banks in Toronto. I desperately want any of the Microsoft ones. *sigh* Keep your fingers crossed.
I'm also hoping to see some UK or Finnish or Japanese jobs coming up. Hmmm, maybe.
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