Co-ops and Experiential Learning: Rewards that are worth the work

Over the past year, virtually every Canadian media outlet has spotlighted stories of post-secondary students transitioning into the workplace, unable to find a job in their field due to lack of experience, yet unable to gain experience without a job. We’ve heard controversial stories of internships where young, talented people resort to donating their working hours for the benefit of a profitable company.

Falling under the radar in the media today are the long-established programs that give students an opportunity to experience challenging, paid work in their field.

Co-operative education is employment that offers practical applications towards a student’s academic success. The student is paid for their work, supervised and evaluated by both the employer and the education institution.

Co-ops are available in virtually every field and offer different types of experience, from desk research to front-line work and everything in between.

The University of Waterloo was the first university in Canada to offer co-op and today the program is the largest in the world, with 60 percent of the student body participating.

According to the Canadian Association for Co-operative Education, a co-op should alternate periods of academic study with work terms, as opposed to an internship, which would require only one employment term. This is how the University of Waterloo’s program is set up.

“The principle behind it is that if students are able to apply what they’re learning in the classroom in a work situation, then they will understand it better when they come back to the classroom,” says Peggy Jarvie, the executive director of Co-operative Education and Career Action for the university.

The alternating cycle is designed to let students test theoretical knowledge gained in the classroom, while also providing an opportunity to explore different career options in multiple positions.

For co-op students at the University of Waterloo, each work term lasts four months, so by graduation, students will have completed up to two years of professional work in total, typically for several companies.

“They have a much better sense for what kind of work they want after they graduate and what kind of place they want to work in, compared to most graduates, simply because of that variety of experience,” says Jarvie.

Co-op positions stand out as platforms for training that provide targeted experience and pay well beyond the typical student job. Bradley Jung is in his fourth year of aerospace engineering at Carleton University and has already completed over a year of career-specific work through a co-op. He points out that co-ops offer hiring privileges rarely found in the job market. “These are specific jobs allocated for students. Once you graduate you’re in competition with the whole market,” says Jung.

Two years ago, Graham Lewis graduated from civil engineering, one of several programs with mandatory co-op at the University of Waterloo. He says doing a co-op gives you a broader perspective, in and out of the classroom.

“Before you lock down a full-time job, you get to sample six different companies—and if it’s not right for you, you only have to be there for four months. If your job sucks, you get out and you try something new,” he says.

Over six terms during his five-year program, he took on a number of positions for different companies, from site inspection to construction management. “By the time I was done the terms, my resumé was years ahead of anyone else that I was competing against from any other program,” says Lewis.

According to a study conducted by the University of Waterloo, Lewis is far from an anomaly. Graduates of co-op programs are more likely to find higher-level and better-paid jobs than those who do not complete a co-op, regardless of socioeconomic background and academic achievement.

With the cost of tuition constantly on the rise, co-op positions can create a more financially even playing field for students to support themselves through school, as programs are intended to result in paid employment. This was the case for Lewis, who says he ended up earning money in university, even after paying for tuition and living costs.

The paycheque is only one benefit of taking on a co-op; positions offer career-long benefits. “Among other things you learn about how to behave in a workplace: things like clarity of communications, or teamwork, or initiative—all those things are expected and rewarded differently in the workplace than they are in an academic setting,” says Jarvie, adding that students who have completed co-ops often boast better time management and organizational skills.

But while co-op comes with ample benefits, it’s far from a free ride.

“It’s hard. Once you’ve started your co-op sequence… you’re looking for a job in every academic term,” Jarvie says. On top of a demanding academic schedule, students will be sending out resumés and scheduling interviews, constantly in pursuit of their next position.

Jung set out to take a co-op immediately upon enrolling at Carleton. “I found it kind of difficult. There weren’t as many aerospace-specific companies out there.”

Eager to get a head start with career experience, Jung started the job hunt in second year—earlier than many of his peers who opted to wait to apply until they were in their third year.

“I thought if I can get a placement now, then I’ll know what to focus on in subsequent years,” Jung says. He was offered a placement at the National Research Council of Canada at the end of his second year.

Jung took on a 16-month co-op in the Flight Recorder Playback Centre. “Before co-op I had a very vague idea of what I wanted to do. Most aerospace engineering students go into the field because they like flying or spacecrafts,” he says.

Jung’s day-to-day tasks had him analyzing flight data, but by the end of his work term he had built an entire computer app for professionals in his field on the job. Sitting side-by-side with programmers, Jung had resources well beyond a textbook to coach him along the way.

Unlike the University of Waterloo, not all Carleton engineering students are required to do a co-op. Despite adding an extra year to his bachelor’s degree, Jung was confident the time investment would be worthwhile.

“I thought it would be a good option. I don’t think a lot of people chose to do it,” he said. “I think it gave me a more realistic approach to finding a job.”

Even though students enroll in co-op, they’re not guaranteed a work term. Students compete for few positions. “Most of our students, by the time they graduate, frankly have had more interviews than I have in my entire career, so they need to learn how to present themselves well, both on paper and in person,” says Jarvie.

While certainly a challenge, a co-op is invaluable to advancing one’s career path. “You get a foot in the door, it raises your confidence, you make some contacts, and you get industry experience,” says Jung. “I don’t think there’s anything you can lose from it.”

Jarvie points out that the programs benefit all involved: students, employers and post-secondary institutions. “The rewards are certainly worth the additional work, but you need to walk into it with your eyes open,” says Jarvie.

For Lewis, a co-op meant a handful of job offers upon graduation. “Not only did I have jobs readily available, but it was also a clean transition into my current position. I didn’t even have to look for anything,” he says. He took on a job with the same company where he completed his final two work terms. “If I could recommend it to anybody, I would do it the exact same way again. I have nothing bad to say about it.”