hey everyone,
So i was just wondering what type of coop jobs you could do after first year? Given that youve only had one year of school what would your responsibilities be?

Also, is it very difficult to get a placement if you have no job experience? (im assuming this is common because it is first year)

thank you!

Unfortunately it is very hard to get a position after first year; however, it's not impossible. Your best chance is if you have a connection to an organization and someone can reference you. I know a lot of people who got a coop because their dad, uncle, friend, etc helped them.

One other thing that might help is having a specific skill that is in need. For example, there is a lot of company's that need proficient programmers, so if it's something that you do on your own time and have a portfolio of projects you did yourself that could always help and show that you're ahead.

Oh ok, so would you recommend that I spend the summer after first year gaining some kind of experience to better my chances? Volunteer and stuff. What kind of experience would help my cause?

There are lots of great organizations in Hamilton that you could volunteer with to gain relevant experience and skills. If you have no work experience at all I strongly recommend volunteering as well as applying for customer service positions. A lot of employers see these entry level jobs as important because it shows you can deal with people and follow direction, especially if you can get a good reference from a manager at the end of the summer.

I was able to get a first year co-op but I had a good connection with a friend and good experience (connection gets the interview, experience gets the job), but anything you find will be pretty low level. I'm mainly doing factory work with an 1 hour commute so its not ideal but a first year co-op is worth it IMO.

The key problem is experience and knowledge. A company would rather shell out a little more to get someone who is far more qualified and who is close to graduation and stands a better chance of still wanting to come back to the company full time. The 2 major ways you will get an engineering job are:
1) Networks. Aka family and friends willing to hire
2) A very strong skill. Aka you are amazing at programming or CAD etc.

Engineering goes against the grain a bit in that boat loads of volunteer and other non engineering work experience is going to help. Its not really. They will filter you based on engineering qualifications first... then when its between a few people they will look at the rest to find the best fit for their team.

Originally Posted by qwerty91

The key problem is experience and knowledge. A company would rather shell out a little more to get someone who is far more qualified and who is close to graduation and stands a better chance of still wanting to come back to the company full time. The 2 major ways you will get an engineering job are:
1) Networks. Aka family and friends willing to hire
2) A very strong skill. Aka you are amazing at programming or CAD etc.

Engineering goes against the grain a bit in that boat loads of volunteer and other non engineering work experience is going to help. Its not really. They will filter you based on engineering qualifications first... then when its between a few people they will look at the rest to find the best fit for their team.

I agree with qwerty91. When I interviewed for my current co-op position my manager didn't ask me about any of my volunteer or extra-curricular activity. It was all very technical based such as which courses am I taking, why did I choose engineering, which computer programs have I used, etc. While I think volunteering is great to give back to the community and help others, I don't think in terms of an engineering career it will help as much as having a solid technical background will.

I would focus on developing technical skills for yourself. If you could find a volunteer position which would require you to use technical skills such as programming or designing instead of just doing something like helping out with events. Otherwise maybe enroll in some extra courses over the summer to learn different programming languages or just how to use different programs.

Another thing to keep in mind is that a lot of employers prefer 8 - 12 month co-ops because a lot of projects usually run that long so they want you to be there from start to end. So don't be discouraged if you can't find a position early on, just focus on your studies and developing a strong technical background which will go a long way later on.

Ok thank you everyone!