Hey,


So I met with a lady at the science co-op office the other day, and she said something that concerns me. She said that if applying to co-op, I should be willing to apply to placements all over Canada "coast to coast". Now, this is not financially reasonable for me. So I'm wondering for those of you that have done co-op, if you've found placements in the GTA? I'm not particular about what I would be doing, I just want to start building my resume.

Also, she said that applying to placements is a part-time job on its own. Have applying to positions been hard to manage with school work?

Any overall reviews of science co-op at Mac?


Thanks!!

Co-op is the best thing you could possibly do. Yes coast-to-coast is common, but so is GTA. Financially reasonable? That shouldn't matter considering most companies will help pay for relocation, and all these positions are paid as it is. More than enough to pay for rent/food wherever you stay. Once you receive a contract you can determine if the pay is enough. Although if there truly is another reason why it wouldn't be financially reasonable, then GTA is still a strong possibility.

Yes it is a lot of work preparing for interviews/applying during the school year, and it can be stressful if you are still applying/interviewing during exam season.

The co-op office is great, but it really comes down to your job and how you like it. It's only for 4 (8 max) months at one company, so it's not an eternity.

Being paid more than makes up for relocation + co-op fees, more-so in your 4th year.

It's hard to find jobs in the GTA, especially if you're looking for bio/biochem-related jobs (i.e. your program is life sci, bio, biochem, chembio, biopharm, etc.)

Applying to jobs was a long process because it is so hard to find a position. Because of the limited number of positions in the GTA, they will not accept students who are not willing to relocate. If you cannot find a co-op position, then you are kicked out of the co-op program. So, if you're truly not willing to relocate, you better be willing to work extra hard to find your own position in the GTA, and not just rely on the ones that the co-op office posts (although I'd recommend doing your own job search anyways). Because you're getting paid for co-op work, moving not being "financially reasonable" is not an acceptable excuse. The bottom line is that while you won't get "forced" to move - you're not going to be automatically assigned a job in another province if you don't apply for any of those jobs - you will get kicked out of co-op if you can't find a job.

I think that it's kind of worth it to try, because you could get lucky and get a job here, especially if you look for something in a research lab on campus. The only downside is the expensive co-op fee, and if you're just going to work in a lab on campus, you could easily do that in the summer too

Thanks. TBH, I didn't think of using the co-op money for expenses. I wouldn't have enough for a flight. But I guess I would get a loan then pay it off as I get pay checks?

Also what was the co-op fee? I can't seem to find it :S

And what do you mean by companies will help pay for relocation, like would they pay for a flight?



Thanks for the responses!!

Originally Posted by patriots4eva

Thanks. TBH, I didn't think of using the co-op money for expenses. I wouldn't have enough for a flight. But I guess I would get a loan then pay it off as I get pay checks?

Also what was the co-op fee? I can't seem to find it :S

And what do you mean by companies will help pay for relocation, like would they pay for a flight?



Thanks for the responses!!

The co-op fee is $650 per term that you are in school. So if you spend fall in classes and winter + summer on co-op, that's $650, but if you're in school Sept-Apr and then co-op in the summer, it'd be $1300 (and then the following year you'd likely be co-op in fall and classes in winter, so that would be $650 for that year).
It's not cheap.

And your flight one-way shouldn't be more than $400 (I remember it cost me around $650 round-trip to BC on a holiday, so that's what I'm basing my estimate on)...also not cheap, but if you think about it, it's less expensive than the co-op fees In two weeks of working you should easily be able to make that back.

In my experience, none of the companies paid a dime for relocation. It's a nice bonus if you can get it, but you shouldn't expect it.

Originally Posted by patriots4eva

Thanks. TBH, I didn't think of using the co-op money for expenses. I wouldn't have enough for a flight. But I guess I would get a loan then pay it off as I get pay checks?

Also what was the co-op fee? I can't seem to find it :S

And what do you mean by companies will help pay for relocation, like would they pay for a flight?



Thanks for the responses!!

Relocation expenses, such as paying for a flight or cost of gas, have been subsidized for me in the past. If you are going into government type positions, this is almost always guaranteed. Private company is based on their policies. You could easily put $400 on a credit card.

It's definitely more than possible to get a job in the GTA. Of course it's competitive, but definitely NOT impossible! Job search is hard, especially when you're in school full-time, but at the same time, if you dedicate even a couple of hours a week and you start early, you should be fine. I definitely think co-op is worth it, and while I get why the co-op office wants people who can re-locate, lots of people still find jobs in the GTA. Don't let that stop you from doing co-op, it's a great experience. Let me know if you have any questions!

Go for it! Not only I graduated with enough money to be debt free, I also found out what I really wanted to do after I got my degree.