Co-Op & Its Impact in Job Market
Author : Mr. Mozammel Khan
Engineering Manager (Hardware Design)
Elysium Broadband Inc.
Toronto, Canada
"Co-op is learning by doing, not learning by observation!!! We will not be competitive in the job market unless we graduate with Co-op experience”. 1. Abstract:The main objective of this white paper is to provide some basic information on Co-op & its impact in Job Market, and how help students to obtain career-related experience during college/university education, which enhance the academic experience and/or assist in exploring career options in future.
2. Introduction: Most of the developed countries (Canada, USA, & Sweden, etc.) introduce students Co-op Program through co-operative & internship Education. The purpose of Co-operative education is to find people who have the skills needed to meet its future employment needs.
Through free activities and work assignment with real projects (Co-ops), students are brought into closer with working life. It's an opportunity to earn money and continue our education and get ready for real job market.
From the professional development view, Co-op gives us opportunity to interact with others of
different backgrounds, ages, and personalities, and learn how to work effectively with them. It is
the Co-op's ability to function effectively within the system, which will often determine our success.
3. Why Co-op??? Most of the cases, question arise, “What Co-op will do for me?” The answer is simple: As much as we want!! Co-op education will provide us with opportunities for first-hand knowledge of our chosen profession, practical know-how, financial reward and reinforcement of overall academic principles. More important, Co-op offers us the opportunity to become self-reliant, decision-making ability, moral integrity and sample the "real world."
Growing and learning opportunities are endless - limited only by our willingness to accept the challenges.4. Motivation:Co-op now-a-days become an academic program. Almost 80% percent students are attending to this program during their education. In near future, co-op will become mandatory part (100%) of education. To explore and establish our-selves as professional will be very difficult without co-op program attendance. The main purpose and motivation of this white paper is to inform our community about important & usefulness as well as the impact of co-op in present & future job market. Co-op helps to educate students about professional employment. On average, during a single year, student should have at least one co-op work experience. This program is open to all majors, and to both undergraduate and graduate students. Most of the industries & govt. agencies participate in this program.
5. Benefits of Co-op:During university/institute education it is possible for us to apply for a co-op experience in industry or with a government agency. Such experience is valuable, because most employers want students with practical experience and often prefer to hire those who have worked with them through co-ops. Co-op offers the opportunity to:
• Earn money for college expenses.
• Establish valuable network for future reference.
• Gateway to personal and professional development.
• Receive college credit toward graduation requirement.
• Learn how can be report to our immediate supervisors.
• Build a partnership among the student, and the employer.
• Begin seriously thinking about future employment opportunities.
• Improve skill and knowledge applicable to respective career field.
• Increase responsibility accountability and independence on the job.
• Improve student's carrier decision-making ability and moral integrity.
• Improve and understand the relationship between theory and practice.
• Build greater degree of self-confidence that helps to find interest and goals.
• Learn effective resume, forwarding & follow-up letter writing and interview skills.
• Work on programs and with equipment those are not available in institute/university.
• Enable student to identify his/her strengths/weakness and acquire new technical skills.
• Learn how to work with colleagues & develop effective communication and team skills in a
professional atmosphere.
• Provide related work experience that integrates & explore theory whatever students learned in
classroom with practical application
• On average, over 30% to 50% of all Co-ops are offered full-time jobs from their Co-op
companies before graduation.
6. Pre-requisite of Co-op:In order to apply for a co-op experience in industry or with a government agency, students are eligible for Co-op if they are:
• Four or more work-term commitment from to the employer & student.
• Must be degree-seeking, pursuing either an undergraduate or graduate degree.
• Admitted in high school through graduate or professional schools, including technical and
vocational schools.
• Enrolled/accepted as a degree student (diploma, certificate, etc.) in an accredited institution.
• Taking at least half-time academic or vocational or technical course load in a high school,
technical or vocational school, 2-year or 4-year college or university, graduate or professional
school.
• Most technology-driven companies are looking for a solid educational background, and also
want to see how students perform in the workplace before they offer full-time position.
7. Way to find Co-Op:There are many different ways student may find and attend to co-op program. Some of the useful ways are:
• Attend Co-op job fair.
• Visit Human Resource offices.
• Attend courses related to co-op.
• Build up good personal networking.
• Use career search database in Internet.
• Attend On-Campus Interviewing (OCI).
• Watch recruiting bulletin board in campus.
• Participate in the Candidate Referral Service.
• Make an appointment with co-op coordinator.
• Write, call or send email to contact employers.
• Register for co-op and attend orientation session.
• Select industries according to our specific career interest.
• Regularly watch at least once every week about co-ops career-related temporary jobs.
• Consult business directories to focus on specific career fields can help us target good quality
co-op programs.
• Touch Screen Computer center - A network of self-service information providers located in
most malls and human resources offices nationwide. Complete job announcements & job can
get from there.
8. Conclusion:Co-operative Education (Co-op) continues to be a strong recruitment source for industries and govt. agencies. There is a need to attract diverse and talented studentswith skills, which will be critical to the future workforce needs of the Industries &
Provincial/Federal Government. The arrangements for such jobs are developed under
the Co-ops Program. That program provides for work-study partnerships between
students, educational institutions, industries and govt. agencies. In fact, most
employers often hire candidates who have had a co-op or internship during formal
educational training. The value of participating in Co-op is twofold:
1. It enriches the educational process by giving student relevant job experiences.
2. It provides employers with an opportunity to take an active role in developing
their future workforce.
The overall intention of this white paper is to provide the initial motivation to our
community to move forward and adapt as well as prepare ourselves as potential
professionals in job market through proper utilization of co-op program & its practices.
Most of the topics we discussed are well known to all of us in different way. We simply try
to rearrange in a systematic way and hope this will be helpful to our community and no
doubt, this is really an important issue. We are quite sure; there are many experts in our
community, who can help us by providing more detailed valuable and useful information.
BPNetwork needs your help and active participation in addressing this issue.
Source: Bangladeshi Professionals Network (BPNetwork)
